February 28, 2023: The US, Canada, EU, India and Taiwan banned using Tik Tok in their government devices.
US bans from federal devices
The White House on Monday gave government agencies 30 days to ensure they do not have the Chinese-owned app TikTok on federal devices and systems.
In a bid to keep U.S. data safe, all federal agencies must eliminate TikTok from phones and systems and prohibit internet traffic from reaching the company, Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young told agencies in a guidance memorandum.
Two-thirds of American teens use TikTok, but there’s a concern in Washington that China could use its legal and regulatory powers to obtain private user data or to try to push misinformation or narratives favouring China.
While impacting a tiny portion of TikTok’s U.S. user base, the device ban adds fuel to calls for an outright ban on the video-sharing app. National security concerns about China surged in recent weeks after a Chinese balloon drifted over the U.S.
ByteDance-owned TikTok has said the concerns are fueled by misinformation and has denied using the app to spy on Americans. The action does not affect the more than 100 million Americans who use TikTok on private or company-owned devices. TikTok did not immediately comment on the White House memo.
Canada bans from government devices
The federal government is banning the Chinese-owned social media app TikTok from all government mobile devices on Feb. 28 because it presents an “unacceptable level of risk to privacy and security” and the company’s data collection methods create vulnerabilities to cyber-attacks.
“Effective February 28, 2023, the TikTok application will be removed from government-issued mobile devices. Users of these devices will also be blocked from downloading the application in the future. Following a review of TikTok, the Chief Information Officer of Canada determined that it presents an unacceptable level of risk to privacy and security,” Fortier said in a statement.
“The decision to remove and block TikTok from government mobile devices is being taken as a precaution, particularly given concerns about the legal regime that governs the information collected from mobile devices, and is in line with the approach of our international partners. On a mobile device, TikTok’s data collection methods provide considerable access to the phone’s contents,” she added.
According to the statement, no government information has been compromised because of TikTok to date. It also notes that the new policy will not impact people’s ability to install the app on their personal devices.
In a statement, TikTok Canada spokesperson Danielle Morgan said the company was “disappointed” in the federal chief information officer’s decision “without citing any specific security concerns” or contacting the company beforehand.
European Unian bans from government devices
The European Parliament has decided to ban TikTok from staff phones for security reasons, becoming the latest EU institution to do so after the European Commission and the European Council. The planned ban will also apply to private devices with Parliament email and other network access installed on them, an EU official said on Tuesday, adding that the decision is expected to be announced soon.
India and Taiwan recently decided to block TikTok from government devices.
The actions taken by governments may not immediately affect members of the general public, who use TikTok on private or company-owned devices, however, the ban may be extended to public devices in future.
