caption,
Tik Tok is accused of sharing user data with the Chinese government
Item Information
- Author, Chas Geiger
- Rolle, BBC News
- Mar 16, 2023, 10:34 03
Updated 1 hour ago
TikTok, the popular Chinese videomaking and sharing app, will be banned from phones and other devices used by UK ministers and officials for work.
The decision was communicated to MPs by Minister Oliver Dowden, who described the measure as a “prudent precaution”. “The security of sensitive government information must be a priority,” he said.
However, he noted that ministers and officials are not prohibited from using TikTok on their private phones. According to Dowden, the measure is a “proportionate” response to a “risk specific to government work equipment.”
Several ministries have TikTok accounts and the Ministry of Defense on Thursday morning (03/16)
TikTok is accused of sharing user data with the Chinese government. The company vehemently denies the accusation.
The United States, Canada, Belgium, and India are some of the countries that decided to ban TikTok from official devices. The European Commission, the executive body of the European Union, has also taken the same action.
For its part, TikTok claimed that the bans were based on “untimely fears and appear to be driven by broader geopolitics,” adding that the company was “disappointed” with such a move in the UK.
TikTok argues that it doesn’t share data with Chinese authorities, but the Asian giant’s intelligence laws require companies to help the Communist Party if asked to do so.
Critics fear this rule could expose Beijing to data from devices used by political leaders and officials.
The UK Parliament shut down its TikTok account last August. The Downing Street TikTok profile has not been updated since former Prime Minister Boris Johnson resigned in September 2022, but others, including that of Energy Secretary Grant Shapps, have recently been updated.
The US banned TikTok from official devices in December, and the European Commission did the same on February 23.
Britain’s Labor Party, which is opposed to the current Conservativeled government, says Science Secretary Michelle Donelan said five days later using TikTok was a matter of “personal choice”, adding that a ban would be something “very direct”. were.
caption,
The video of the tank delivered to Ukraine was published on the British Ministry of Defense’s Tik Tok account
understand the argument
Earlier this month, China accused the US of overreacting after federal officials ordered it to remove the TikTok video app from official devices.
At the time, the White House gave government agencies 30 days to ensure employees didn’t have the Chinese app on federal devices.
A spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry accused the US of abusing state power to suppress foreign companies.
“We firmly reject these wrong actions,” spokeswoman Mao Ning told reporters at a news conference.
“The U.S. government must respect the principles of the market economy and fair competition, end corporate repression, and create an open, fair, and nondiscriminatory environment for foreign businesses in the United States.”
“How insecure can the world’s greatest superpower like the US be to fear young people’s favorite app in this way?” she added.
Western authorities have expressed growing concern over TikTok, which is owned by Chinese company ByteDance, in recent months.
However, Australia said it had received no advice from its intelligence agencies recommending following the lead of the US, EU and Canada.
TikTok has been accused of collecting user data and supplying it to the Chinese government with this in mind, some Western intelligence agencies fear that confidential information could be leaked when the app is downloaded onto official devices.
The company says it operates no differently than others in the industry and would never comply with a data transfer order.
The order to remove the app from all government devices was issued by the US Office of Management and Budget to protect sensitive data.
The agency said the guidance is a “critical step in addressing the risks the app poses to sensitive government data.”
Some federal agencies — including the White House and the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, and State — have already banned TikTok from their devices.
Chris DeRusha, the US chief information security officer, said the move underscores the “continued commitment of the Biden administration to protecting our digital infrastructure and protecting the security and privacy of the American people.”
Canada also imposed a new ban on the app on government devices in early March.
The decision followed a review conducted by the country’s chief information officer, which found the app posed “an unacceptable level of privacy and security risk.”
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there were enough concerns about the app’s security to call for the change.
“This could be the first step, this could be the only step we have to take,” he said at a press conference near Toronto on Monday (March 13).
And the European Parliament also approved a ban on the app on employees’ cell phones after the European Commission’s decision.
A TikTok spokesman told the BBC that the bans were imposed “without any thought” and were “little more than political theatre”.
Over the past year, TikTok has become the most downloaded app in the world.