The government on Friday banned the installation and use of “leisure” apps such as the Chinese social network TikTok or the American streaming platform Netflix on the work phones of 2.5 million civil servants.
These applications pose “risks in terms of cybersecurity and the protection of official and administrative data,” estimated the entourage of Minister for Public Service Stanislas Guerini, following in the footsteps of several Western institutions and governments that have already been banned or restricted the use of TikTok on work devices.
Applications now banned include “the triptych of gaming applications like Candy Crush, streaming like Netflix and leisure like TikTok,” explains Stanislas Guerini’s entourage, before adding that Twitter is also blacklisted.
But the government has not yet created a unified list of banned applications, the measure is taken by default.
The ban, which the government says has been communicated to the various ministries through a “binding” directive, comes into effect immediately and will not affect state officials’ personal phones.
Civil servants who wish to use one of the blocked applications for institutional communication purposes must apply for an exemption from the digital department of their ministry.
There is currently no uniform system of sanctions for violations of the ban. Any sanctions must be decided “at the senior level” of each ministry, according to Stanislas Guerini’s services.
The White House, the European Commission, the Canadian and British governments, and other organizations, among others, have recently banned their officials from using TikTok on their work phones.
At the heart of the concerns is a Chinese law from 2017 that obliges local companies to provide personal data that would be relevant to national security if the authorities request it.
The Chinese government “has never asked or will ask any company or individual to collect or (to) release data from abroad in a way that would violate local laws,” Mao Ning said on Friday Door opener of Chinese diplomacy.