In a new development in the crisis of Chinese technology companies in the European and American markets, the United Kingdom has banned the Tik Tok app for official government agencies, adding to similar restrictions imposed by allies in Canada, the European Union and the United States. .
The social media app is not widely used by UK officials, according to a government statement. But the action reflects concerns about TikTok’s ties to China through its parent company ByteDance and the possibility that the Chinese government could pressure companies to share personal information with users. In a statement, UK Cabinet Minister Oliver Dowden told lawmakers: “This is a proportionate move based on specific risks with public authorities.”
At the same time, the company that owns the Chinese application expressed disappointment with the decision. A spokesperson for the company said: “We believe this ban was based on fundamental misconceptions and driven by broader geopolitics where the app and its millions of users in the UK play no role. We remain committed to working with the government to resolve the issue.” any questions other than facts must be judged on the basis of facts.” Treat them equally with our competitors.
The company said it is voluntarily working to address security concerns by taking technical and bureaucratic measures to isolate user data in the United States and the European Union from its global operations. He also stated that he had not received any requests from the Chinese government for user information and would resist such requests.
As for the Tik Tok app, according to a recent statement, it announced that it has “launched a comprehensive plan to further protect European users’ data, which includes storing user data in the United Kingdom in our European data centers and tightening data access controls. including independent oversight.” from a third party regarding our approach.”
The UK announcement comes a day after TikTok said the US administration had asked the company’s Chinese owners to sell their shares or risk being banned. Last December, US President Joe Biden signed into law a bill banning a Chinese app from federal government devices, joining what has become a list of more than half of the US states.
According to CNN, US lawmakers have proposed expanding the powers of the Biden administration to implement a nationwide ban on the Chinese app. This month, a bipartisan group of senators unveiled legislation that would give the Department of Commerce broad scope to review and ban technologies linked to foreign adversaries, a proposal that was swiftly approved by the White House.
And in Europe, New Zealand is set to ban TikTok on all devices that can access its parliament by the end of this month, becoming the latest country to formally ban the popular social media platform owned by the Beijing-based tech conglomerate.
Led by the United States of America, a growing number of Western countries are imposing restrictions on the use of the Chinese app by government agencies for national security reasons. According to Rafael González Montero, chief executive of the New Zealand Parliamentary Service, the risks involved in maintaining a video-sharing app are “unacceptable”.
“This decision was made based on our expert analysis and after discussion with our counterparts in government and internationally,” he wrote. “On the advice of our cybersecurity experts, the Parliamentary Service has informed members and staff that the TikTok app will be removed from all devices accessing the parliamentary network,” he added. But he said those who need the app to “carry out their democratic duties” could receive an exception.
