Last Update: March 17, 2023, 08:00 AM IST
More countries worried about letting users use the app
Britain said on Thursday it would ban TikTok on government phones with immediate effect, a move that follows other Western countries that have banned the Chinese-owned video app over security concerns.
LONDON: Britain said on Thursday it would ban TikTok on government phones with immediate effect, a move that follows other Western countries that have banned the Chinese-owned video app over security concerns.
Cabinet Office minister Oliver Dowden said in a statement: “The protection of sensitive government information must come first, so today we are banning this app from government equipment. The use of other data extraction apps will be reviewed.”
TikTok has come under scrutiny because of fears that user data from the app, owned by Beijing-based company ByteDance, could end up in the hands of the Chinese government, undermining Western security interests.
The British government asked the National Cyber Security Center to look into the potential vulnerability of government data from social media apps and the risks of how sensitive information could be accessed and used.
The United States, Canada, Belgium and the European Commission have already banned the app from official devices.
“Restricting the use of TikTok on government equipment is a prudent and proportionate step following advice from our cyber security experts,” Dowden said.
TikTok said it was disappointed by the decision and had already started taking steps to protect European user data.
A spokesperson for TikTok said, “We believe these bans are based on fundamental misunderstandings and are driven by wider geopolitics, in which TikTok and our millions of users in the UK play no role.”
“We remain committed to working with the government to address any concerns, but decisions must be made on the facts and our competitors must be treated equally.”
Dowden told parliament that government equipment would now only be able to access third-party apps from a pre-approved list.
He said the TikTok ban does not cover personal devices of government employees or ministers and there will be limited exemptions where TikTok is required on government devices for work purposes.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)