State officials are prohibited from using so-called leisure applications “to limit the risk of espionage”.
“After analyzing the problems, especially security, the government has decided to ban the downloading and installation of recreational applications on professional phones made available to civil servants,” the Ministry of Public Services said on Friday.
The government is primarily targeting TikTok and Instagram. The ban, which applies immediately and uniformly, also targets “streaming” applications such as Netflix, games such as Candy Crush and other so-called leisure applications such as Snapchat and Tinder, a ministry official told Portal
“A Privacy Risk”
“In fact, recreational applications do not have a sufficient level of cybersecurity and privacy to be deployed on management devices. These applications can therefore pose a risk to the privacy of these administrations and their officials. ‘ the ministry said in a press release.
Distrust of TikTok is growing. The Chinese application is accused of being used by Beijing for espionage purposes.
The United States, Canada, Belgium, New Zealand and the European Commission have already banned the use of the TikTok application on business phones.
Beijing denies espionage allegations
The Chinese video-sharing app has come under increasing scrutiny amid fears user data from Beijing-based company ByteDance’s app could end up in the hands of the Chinese government, the group denies allegations.
TikTok’s general manager, Shou Zi Chew, was heard by the US Congress on Thursday, while many lawmakers are convinced of the need to ban the application in the United States.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs assured on Friday that China attaches great importance to data protection and data security.
Beijing has never asked and will never ask any company to provide data or information from abroad, a ministry official said.