U.K. Bans TikTok On Government Devices—Here Are The Other Governments Banning The App

Topline

The British government announced Thursday it will ban TikTok from all government devices immediately, following a review by cybersecurity officials that indicated the app posed security threats, complementing efforts by other European governments and the U.S. in restricting the China-owned app over national security and data privacy concerns.

The UK announced it will ban TikTok from government devices effective immediately.

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Key Facts

Cabinet Office minister Oliver Dowden said Thursday all devices used by British government employees would be unable to access TikTok—and the devices will only be able to access pre-approved third-party apps.

The European Commission—the European Union’s executive branch—banned TikTok from its staff members’ phones late last month, noting the ban was put in place to protect against cybersecurity threats, and the elected European Parliament announced a similar ban a week later following a review by cybersecurity officials..

Belgium’s National Security Council banned TikTok from the work phones of government officials last week, as Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said the company is “mandated to cooperate with Chinese intelligence services.”

Canada also banned TikTok from government-issued devices over national security concerns last month, though Canadian Treasury Board President Mona Fortier said there was no evidence that any government information had been compromised, according to Reuters.

Lawmakers in the United States approved a ban on TikTok from federal devices in December, and U.S. agencies have until March 20 to remove the app from all government-issued devices, following similar moves by many state governments.

Contra

Last month, the U.K.’s Secretary of State for technology Michelle Donelan said the British government would not ban TikTok on government devices, noting that a decision not to use the app would be a “personal choice,” according to Politico.

Surprising Fact

India was the first to ban TikTok and other Chinese-owned applications nationwide in a June 2020 decision. The Indian government said the apps were “stealing and surreptitiously transmitting user data” outside of India, according to the New York Times.

Key Background

Efforts to ban TikTok—owned by the Chinese firm ByteDance—have ramped up in recent months, as the app faces increased scrutiny amid fears the Chinese government could access users’ data. Whistleblowers from both companies told both Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and the Washington Post that TikTok employees can easily toggle between U.S. and Chinese data with limited approvals, a claim TikTok has disputed. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) has investigated TikTok for years, though some lawmakers have encouraged the agency to conclude its probe. The agency recently threatened to ban the app in the U.S. unless TikTok’s China-based shareholders sold their stakes in the company.

Chief Critic

TikTok told Forbes that forcing ByteDance to divest “doesn’t solve the problem,” adding that a “change in ownership would not impose any new restrictions on data flows or access.” To combat data privacy concerns, TikTok said it would enable a new policy—referred to as “Project Clover” in Europe and “Project Texas” in the U.S.—that would require the company to store user data locally and prohibit data from leaving Europe and the U.S., respectively.

What To Watch For

Lawmakers in the U.S. have introduced bipartisan legislation that would allow the Commerce Department to ban certain foreign technology that poses an “undue or unacceptable risk” to Americans. Though the bill does not explicitly mention TikTok, senators cited it as a potential threat.