Europe 1 with AFP 2:05 p.m., March 01, 2023
After the European Commission and the White House, it is the European Commission's turn to ban the Chinese social network TikTok on the institution's professional devices.
The bans come as TikTok, whose parent company ByteDance is Chinese, has come under increasing scrutiny from Westerners over fears Beijing could access user data around the world.
The European Parliament has moved to ban Chinese social network TikTok on the institution's work devices, citing data security concerns, after a similar move by the European Commission.
The President of Parliament, Roberta Metsola, and the Secretary General, Alessandro Chiocchetti, have decided that the TikTok application can no longer be used on professional devices, such as computers, mobile phones or tablets, from March 20.
"On this date, internet access to the social network from Parliament's computers will be blocked", it was specified in a letter made public on Tuesday evening, distributed by the Directorate General for Innovation and Technological Support ( DG ITEC) of Parliament for the attention of its 8 or so.
ByteDance is under increasing scrutiny from Westerners
In addition, it is also "strongly" recommended that employees of the institution as well as elected officials and parliamentary assistants remove TikTok from their personal devices.
The European Commission announced last Thursday that its staff had until March 15 at the latest to uninstall the application.
A similar measure must be taken by the European Council, the body representing the 27 Member States.
A spokesperson for Tiktok said on Wednesday that these decisions were "misguided and based on misconceptions (...) on fears rather than facts".
The group calls for "due process and equal treatment" with other companies in the sector.
The bans come as TikTok, whose parent company ByteDance is Chinese, has come under increasing scrutiny from Westerners over fears Beijing could access user data around the world.
In the United States, the White House on Monday ordered US federal agencies to ban TikTok from their devices within 30 days.
About twenty American states have already taken a measure of this type for their own employees.
And, in Congress, a bill under discussion could even result in the total banning of the application in the United States.
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A threat to national security?
US lawmakers consider the app a national security threat.
Since Tuesday, the Canadian government has banned TikTok on the mobile devices it provides to its staff, citing "an unacceptable level of risk" to privacy and security.
In the EU, ByteDance is being investigated by the Irish Privacy Authority on suspicion of breaching EU data protection law (GDPR) regarding the processing of personal data children and data transfers to China.
The Danish Parliament announced on Tuesday that it has asked MPs and all of its staff to ban the TikTok application from the mobile devices it provides.
TikTok acknowledged in November that some employees in China could access European user data, and admitted in December that employees had used that data to stalk journalists.
But the group fiercely denies any Chinese government control or access to its data.