Parliament drops Tiktok after MPS raise Beijing spying fears
PARLIAMENT has closed its Tiktok account just a week after it was launched after MPS expressed concerns about Chinese spying.
The account went live on July 27, with Parliament promoting it on Twitter with the promise that it would offer users “behind the scenes content”. All content has been deleted.
Tiktok is owned by Bytedance, a Chinese technology company, and Politico reported on July 29 that senior Conservative MPS who had previously been sanctioned by Beijing had raised fears about the account.
The MPS wrote to the speakers of both the Commons and the Lords to call for the account to be taken down.
MPS who signed the joint letter include Tom Tugendhat, a former Tory leadership candidate, and Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the former Tory leader. The MPS cited concern that user information is transferred to China.
“Others need to think twice about opening accounts with Tiktok. They are data harvesters for the Chinese government,” Sir Iain told The Telegraph.
“I am pleased Parliament has agreed with us and cancelled its account accordingly.”
Mr Tugendhat and Sir Iain were among a group of individuals sanctioned by Beijing in March 2021 after Britain had imposed sanctions on Chinese officials for human rights abuses in Xinjiang.
Bytedance previously insisted: “The Tiktok platform does not operate in China and we have never provided user data to the Chinese government.”
A Parliament spokesman said: “Based on members’ feedback, we are closing the UK Parliament Tiktok account earlier than we had planned. The account was a pilot initiative while we tested the platform as a way of reaching younger audiences with relevant content about Parliament.”
Parliament announced the Tiktok account last month, with the tweet accompanied by a video of people posing for selfies in front of Big Ben.
Parliament said after the account went live that “we undertook all necessary steps to ensure none of our data is at risk” before it was set up.
A Tiktok spokesman said: “While it is disappointing that Parliament will no longer be able to connect with the millions of people who use Tiktok in the UK, we reiterate the offer to reassure those Members of Parliament who raised concerns and clarify any inaccuracies about our platform.”
Jake Moore, a global cyber security adviser with antivirus company ESET, pointed out that most social media apps need to send user data around the world “to function properly”, but warned that installing them on sensitive devices may be an unwise move.
“Many organisations will use personal phones or work devices with other very sensitive data on them for their social media which could potentially hand over information not intended for others to see,” said Mr Moore.