TikTok ban on European Commission phones

LONDON (AP) — The executive branch of the European Union said Thursday it has temporarily banned TikTok on phones used by its employees as a cybersecurity measure, reflecting growing concerns from Western authorities over the video-sharing app. owned by Chinese.

In a first for the European Commission, its corporate governance board has suspended the use of TikTok on staff-issued devices or personal devices that employees use for work.

TikTok faces increasing scrutiny from Europe and the United States over data security and privacy, as the hugely popular app could be used to promote pro-Beijing positions or collect user information. It comes as China and the West are locked in a fight over technology, including spy balloons and computer chips.

The EU decision follows similar steps in the United States, where more than half of state and congressional authorities have banned TikTok on official government devices.

“The reason why this decision was taken is (…) to increase the commission’s cybersecurity,” commission spokeswoman Sonya Gospodinova told a press conference in Brussels. “Furthermore, the measure is intended to protect the commission from cybersecurity threats and actions that can be exploited for cyberattacks against the commission’s corporate environment.”

Caroline Greer, Brussels-based public policy manager for TikTok, tweeted that the suspension “is wrong and based on fundamental misconceptions”.

“We asked for a meeting to set the record straight,” he said, adding that TikTok, which has 125 million users in the 27 countries of the European Union, “continues to improve” its approach to data security. This includes the creation of three European data centers and the minimization of data sent outside the continent.

Commission spokespersons declined to say whether a specific incident triggered the suspension or what would be needed to lift it.

A los empleados se les indicated que deben eliminar TikTok de los devices que usan para negocios profesionales del 15 de marzo, de acuerdo con los representatives de la UE, pero no proporcionaron detalles sober cómo se eso a las personas qu’usan teléfonos personales para work.

In non-EU Norway, the justice minister was forced to apologize this month for not revealing she had TikTok installed on her government-issued phone.

TikTok has also come under pressure from the EU to comply with upcoming new digital regulations that require major online platforms to remove toxic and illegal content as well as the block’s strict data privacy rules.