Shapps says he will keep using Tiktok despite ban for officials

Energy Security Secretary declares he will ‘not be leaving anytime soon’ on his personal phones

GRANT SHAPPS issued a defiant Tiktok post yesterday saying he would remain on the platform despite an official ban of the app on government phones.

The Energy Security Secretary declared on Tiktok that he would “not be leaving anytime soon”, and will continue to use the site on his personal phones – which is allowed under the Government’s edict.

To underline his point, he posted a clip from The Wolf of Wall Street of Leonardo Dicaprio’s character saying “I’m not leaving” to wild applause.

His defiant message – which abides by the letter of the new government edict – came just hours after Oliver Dowden, Cabinet Office minister, confirmed Tiktok, the Chinese-owned social video sharing app, was to be banned from government phones.

He told MPS the move was a “precautionary” measure because of the app’s capability to collect and store huge amounts of people’s data, which would potentially include sensitive government information. It has been alleged the app hands data from users to the Chinese government, although the firm has strongly denied this.

Mr Dowden said the ban would take immediate effect for all government devices. Phones and computers will also only be able to apply third-party apps from a pre-approved list, a practice already in force in some departments but which will now be extended across Whitehall.

It brings the UK into line with more than half of the US states and Canada, where ministers and officials are banned from having Tiktok on their electronic devices because of concerns around potential cyberattacks.

Mr Shapps has more than 14,000 followers on the app, where he mostly posts behind-the-scenes pictures of his day-to-day work and snippets of meetings with significant figures.

He said: “This morning the Government announced a Tiktok ban on government devices. That’s sensible. I’ve never used Tiktok on government devices and can hereby confirm I will NOT be leaving Tiktok anytime soon!”

Others who are Tiktok users include Matt Hancock, the former health secretary, who has more than 180,000 followers and received more than 1.6 million likes, proving him more successful than his colleagues at acquiring an audience on the app, which is known for its younger demographic.

The Cabinet Office said there was “limited use” of Tiktok within the Government and limited need for government staff to use the app on work devices, but No10 does have a verified Tiktok profile.

While it has not posted since July 2022, it has totted up more than 280,000 followers and more than 900,000 likes.

Parliament’s Tiktok account was shut last year after MPS raised concerns. “We need to make sure that our phones are not spyware,” said Tom Tugendhat, the Security Minister.

Alicia Kearns, chairman of the foreign affairs committee, welcomed the move but said: “Tiktok’s ability to act as a data Trojan Horse remains a concern, as is our continued acceptance of data exploiting technologies on our streets and in our pockets. This move will go some way to protect our Government from spyware.”