US government bans TikTok on public terminals China protests
On February 27, the U.S. government ordered federal employees to remove the video-sharing app TikTok from government-issued mobile phones. This was done to protect confidential information. China has accused it of overreacting.
TikTok is operated by Chinese company ByteDance. The European Union and Canada have made similar moves over the app in recent weeks.
Shalanda Young, director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB), has instructed government agencies to remove TikTok from all electronic devices, including federally issued mobile phones, to protect sensitive data.
OMB also ordered to verify within 30 days that the app was not installed on government terminals.
The White House, the Pentagon, Homeland Security, State, and others have already banned TikTok on government devices.
China's foreign ministry spokesman Mao Ning, meanwhile, accused the United States of abusing state power to suppress foreign companies. "The U.S. government should respect the principles of market economy and fair competition, end corporate repression, and provide an open, fair and non-discriminatory environment for foreign companies in the U.S.," he said.
Reaction on TikTok side
TikTok has been accused of collecting user data and handing it over to the Chinese government. Some intelligence agencies say the app could expose sensitive information if downloaded to government devices.ByteDance, which operates it, claims it operates like other social media companies. They say they will never comply with orders to hand over data from the government.
A TikTok spokesperson told the BBC: "When addressing TikTok's national security concerns beyond government terminals, we are looking for a solution that does not censor the voices of millions of Americans. I hope Congress will look into it," he said.
Banned in Canada and Europe
Western authorities have grown more concerned about TikTok in recent months.Canada has banned the use of the app on government devices since February 28. It concluded that there were "unacceptable risks to privacy and security."
"This may be the first step, or it may be the only step necessary," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Monday.
The European Parliament has also banned employees from using TikTok on their mobile phones. The European Commission took similar action last week.
Last December, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill banning the use of TikTok on federally-issued mobile phones and requiring the government to issue an order to do so within 60 days.
Additionally, Republicans are expected to pass a bill in the coming weeks that would give President Joe Biden the power to ban the use of the app nationwide.
Australia, on the other hand, said its intelligence agencies had never advised it to follow the example of the US, EU or Canada.
A TikTok spokesperson told the BBC that the bans were adopted "without any discussion" and were "just a political drama".
