UK officials banned from using TikTok on office phones
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The UK has banned officials from using the Chinese social network TikTok on their office phones. About it informed Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Oliver Dowden, his words are quoted by Reuters.
The decision comes with the risk of the social network getting government data, Dowden explained. According to him, limiting the use of the social network is a “wise” step taken “on the advice of our cybersecurity experts.” He added that TikTok on work phones would be blocked “immediately.”
In response to the decision of the British authorities, TikTok expressed disappointment and assured that they had begun to take steps to further protect the data of European users. “We believe that these bans are based on fundamental misconceptions and are driven by geopolitics in which TikTok and our millions of users in the UK play no role,” the social network’s press service said.
At the same time, the chancellor clarified that this ban does not apply to the personal devices of civil servants. There will also be exceptions when a Chinese social network may be required for work.
March 1 US House Foreign Affairs Committee approved a bill that gives the country’s president the right to impose a ban on TikTok in the country, as well as to impose a ban on the Chinese company ByteDance, which owns the social network. On March 6, Democrat Mark Warner, chairman of the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, announced that senators would introduce this bill.
On March 7, the head of the US Armed Forces Cyber Command, General Paul Nakasone, expressed concern about the spread of TikTok and its impact on American children. According to him, the social network has a wide impact on the “large audience of listeners”, thanks to which it receives user data.
In February, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) called for a ban on the Chinese social network, which they say violates the right to free speech. Democrat Gregory Meeks, chairman of the foreign affairs committee, also opposed the bill. Such a law would “put more companies into China’s sphere of influence” as well as cut jobs in the US, the chairman said.
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