TikTok has said it would be “disappointed” if it was banned from UK government devices, after it was reported that ministers were due to follow the example of the US, Canada and the European Commission in blocking the social video app. TikTok said moves to strip it from government-issued phones were based on “misplaced fears”. The app is under pressure over its ownership by Beijing-based ByteDance, with politicians on both sides of the Atlantic warning that the Chinese state could access its data or manipulate what people view on the…
Tag: TikTok
TikTok unveils European data security plan amid calls for US ban
TikTok has announced a data security regime for protecting user information across Europe, as political pressure increases in the US to ban the social video app. The plan, known as Project Clover, involves user data being stored on servers in Ireland and Norway at an annual cost of €1.2bn (£1.1bn), while any data transfers outside Europe will be vetted by a third-party IT company. TikTok is under pressure in the US and Europe over its links to China via its Beijing-based parent, ByteDance. On Tuesday the White House gave its…
White House backs bill that could give it power to ban TikTok nationwide
The White House said it backed legislation introduced on Tuesday by a dozen senators to give the administration new powers to ban Chinese-owned video app TikTok and other foreign-based technologies if they pose national security threats. The endorsement boosts efforts by a number of lawmakers to ban the popular ByteDance-owned app, which is used by more than 100 million Americans. The bill gives the commerce department the authority to impose restrictions up to and including banning TikTok and other technologies that pose national security risks, said Democratic Senator Mark Warner,…
House committee advances legislation to ban TikTok over security concerns
A powerful US House committee has applied further pressure to TikTok by backing legislation that could give Joe Biden the power to ban the social video app. The House foreign affairs committee voted on Wednesday along party lines to grant the administration new powers to ban the Chinese-owned app as well as other apps believed to pose security risks. The fate of the measure is still uncertain and it would need to be passed by the full House and Senate before it can go to Biden. The Republican committee chair,…
‘Abusing state power’: China lashes out at US over TikTok bans
US government bans on Chinese-owned video sharing app TikTok reveal Washington’s own insecurities and are an abuse of state power, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson has said. China, though, has itself long blocked a large list of foreign social media platforms and messaging apps, including YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. The US government “has been overstretching the concept of national security and abusing state power to suppress other countries’ companies”, Mao Ning said at a daily briefing on Tuesday. “How unsure of itself can the US, the world’s top superpower,…
Canada bans TikTok on government devices over security risks
Canada has joined the US and EU in enacting a sweeping ban preventing TikTok from being installed on all government-issued mobile devices, as western officials take action over the Chinese-owned video-sharing app. Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister, did not rule out further action. “I suspect that as government takes the significant step of telling all federal employees that they can no longer use TikTok on their work phones, many Canadians from business to private individuals will reflect on the security of their own data and perhaps make choices,” he…
European Commission bans staff using TikTok on work devices over security fears
The EU’s executive body has banned its thousands of staff from using TikTok over cybersecurity concerns, a decision the Chinese-owned social video app has criticised as “misguided” and based on “fundamental misconceptions”. The European Commission sent an email to employees ordering them to delete the app from all work phones and devices, and any personally owned ones that use the commission’s apps and email. Employees have until 15 March to comply. A spokesperson said: “This measure aims to protect the commission against cybersecurity threats and actions which may be exploited…
TikTok: how the west has turned on gen Z’s favourite app
The FBI has called it a national security threat. The US government has passed a law forcing officials to delete it from their phones. Texas senator Ted Cruz has denounced it as “a Trojan horse the Chinese Communist party can use to influence what Americans see, hear, and ultimately think”. And in March its CEO will defend its existence before the US Congress. For those unaware of the debate broiling on the other side of the Atlantic, the target of this strong rhetoric might prove surprising: an app best known…
TechScape: Is ‘banning’ TikTok protecting users or censorship? It depends who you ask
The US battle with TikTok over data privacy concerns and Chinese influence has been heating up for years, and recent measures have brought college campuses to the forefront – with a number of schools banning the app entirely on campus wifi. Students have responded, of course, on TikTok. Taking advantage of viral sounds, they have expressed outrage at their favourite app being blocked at universities like Auburn, Oklahoma and Texas A&M in the past few months. “Do they not realize people in college are actually adults?” one user wrote. “We…
TikTok has been spying on reporters – exactly no one is surprised
Hello and welcome to TechScape. Alex is now off on paternity leave, and in his place a rotating cast of writers will give their takes on the world of tech. Apologies to any readers who have begged Alex for fewer stories about Elon Musk and crypto, but in a post-Twitter takeover world there are no quiet weeks for tech reporters. In the last few weeks, Musk has handed over documents for the latest edition of the “Twitter Files” to controversial author Alex Berenson (with the not-so revelatory news that Twitter…