European Commission staff have been banned from using the Chinese platform TikTok on both government-owned as well as many personal devices over spying concerns.
Officials from within the EU have reportedly banned staff from using the Chinese social media platform TikTok on a plurality of devices over apparent fears to do with the spying threat the app could pose.
It is the latest move from a Western power against the platform, with officials in both Europe and the United States having also implemented partial bans on the social media site, which is heavily linked to the Chinese Communist Party.
According to a report by POLITICO, an email was circulated to European Commission staff on Thursday morning informing them that they were to delete the app from all devices owned by the EU, as well as all personal devices that have work-related content on them.
“To protect Commission’s data and increase its cybersecurity, the EC Corporate Management Board has decided to suspend the TikTok application on corporate devices and personal devices enrolled in the Commission mobile device service,” the email sent to staff read.
The communication goes on to warn staff that they have until March 15 to comply with the ban, with any device found to have the app installed on it after that date to be considered “non-compliant with the corporate environment”.
In response to the EU’s decision, TikTok has described the ban as being “misguided”, insisting that they can “set the record straight” about the safety of users and their data on the Chinese platform.
The social media platform has a lot of setting straight to do so if the EU’s decision is indeed based on faulty evidence, with authorities across the West now repeatedly implementing restrictions on the use of the platform in the hopes of maintaining national security.
The Netherlands has already told its public authorities to stay off the platform over cybersecurity fears, with the country’s government now investigating whether they should outright ban TikTok from government phones.
Such a ban has already been implemented by the United States, with the country’s parliament now considering a bipartisan bill that would completely ban TikTok from operating in the country so long as it remains under Chinese ownership.
Under Senator Marco Rubio’s Averting the National Threat of Internet Surveillance, Oppressive Censorship and Influence, and Algorithmic Learning by the Chinese Communist Party Act (ANTI-SOCIAL CCP Act), all social media platforms directly owned, indirectly owned or “substantially influenced” by a nation deemed a “foreign adversary” will be prohibited from operating in the U.S.
“We cannot allow hostile governments to use our social media habits as a Trojan Horse into our networks,” Senator Angus King, who helped introduce the bill, said.
“Make no mistake – every ‘private’ enterprise in China has direct ties and on-demand information-sharing requirements with the national government,” he went on to say.