FRANCE BANS TIKTOK ON GOVERNMENT DEVICES

There are widespread concerns that Tiktok data could be compromised and sent to China, with the app’s parent company, Bytedance, being based in Beijing.

The French government has announced a ban on Tiktok, the popular Chineseowned video-sharing app, on government devices due to concerns over privacy and cybersecurity. According to a report from NHK World, the French Public Service Minister, Stanislas Guerini, said that the app would no longer be allowed on the work phones of civil servants to “guarantee the cybersecurity of our administrations and civil servants.”

This move comes after similar actions in the US, UK, and Europe, with India having imposed a nationwide ban on Tiktok and dozens of other Chinese apps in 2020 over privacy and security concerns. The video-sharing service was also recently banned on the phones of New Zealand MPS, with the chief executive of the Parliamentary Service stating that the “risks are not acceptable.”

There are widespread concerns that Tiktok data could be compromised and sent to China, with the app’s parent company, Bytedance, being based in Beijing. This has raised concerns that the Chinese government could potentially access users’ location and contact data. Tiktok’s CEO, Shou Zi Chew, recently faced a grilling by US lawmakers over the app’s ties to China and handling of user data. Chew admitted that user data can be accessed by its Chinese parent company and that staff in China currently have the ability to see user information.

Furthermore, Tiktok is bound by China’s National Intelligence Law, which compels Chinese citizens and companies to surrender all data to the Chinese Communist Party on request and perform surveillance activities on behalf of the CCP. The app collects users’ personal information, including phone numbers, email addresses, contacts, and Wi-fi networks.

Bytedance has said that it does not share information with the Chinese government, but US officials counter that Chinese law requires the company to make the app’s data available to the CCP. Tiktok, which counts over 150 million US users each month, has faced growing scrutiny from government officials over fears that user data could fall into the possession of the Chinese government and that the app could be weaponized by China to spread misinformation.

In response to these concerns, the French government has taken steps to ensure the cybersecurity of its civil servants by banning the app on government devices. It remains to be seen whether other countries will follow suit and take similar measures to protect their citizens’ data from potential breaches.