The European Commission has banished the use of the Chinese social media app TikTok from all its computers, tablets and staff smartphones. The measure is designed to protect the commission’s staff.
Culture
European Commission bans TikTok use
Published:
The Brussels regional news platform Bruzz reports that the board that is responsible for the day-to-day running of the European Commission has decided that those that work at the Commission must remove the TikTik app from all their personal and professional devises that are registered with the European Commission.
Staff must remove TiKTok from their personal computers, tablets and smartphones if these devices also have apps downloaded on to them that are related to the staff members' professional activities.
In a statement the European Commission said “The Commission wishes to protect its staff against an increased cyberthreat and a growing number of incidents. This makes it our duty to react as early as possible to potential cyber warnings”.
Other apps are also being monitored closely for any potential security threat.
Growing concern
There is growing concern that TikTok may be being used by the Chinese secret service to spy on politicians and high-ranking civil servants in the west.
In December 2022, the authorities in the United States banned TikTok from all internet-enabled Federal Government devices for this very reason. Now the European Commission has followed suit.
The European Parliament and European Council are also considering banning TikTok.
Data leak
TikTok is also currently the subject of an investigation by the European Data Protection Authority. It is alleged that TikTok illegally transferred data on EU citizens from Europe to China.
In early November, the Chinees company behind TikTok admitted that some of its staff that are based in China have access to European TikTok users’ data. In an effort to defuse the situation TikTok announced last week that data from Europeans that use the app can be stored in three data centres here in Europe.