Concerns of Chinese spying via TikTok continue. After several European and American institutions, the BBC encouraged its staff and journalists to remove TikTok from work phones.
The British media giant reports in an article published on its site that staff received an email on Sunday in which the group says they “do not recommend installing TikTok on a BBC company device, unless there is a justified business reason”. “If you don’t need TikTok for work, you should delete TikTok,” it added.
Malicious use of data by TikTok?
These new instructions come as the United Kingdom already banned TikTok on government devices last week, following in the footsteps of Washington or the European Commission which have implemented similar bans.
“The BBC takes the security of its systems, data and staff very seriously. We are constantly reviewing activity on third-party platforms – including TikTok – and will continue to do so,” a spokesperson for the group said. “We would also like to clarify that the use of TikTok on BBC devices is still permitted for editorial and marketing purposes. »
TikTok, whose parent company Byte Dance is Chinese, has come under increasing scrutiny from Westerners over fears that Beijing could access user data across the world. TikTok acknowledged in November that some employees in China could access European user data and admitted in December that employees had used that data to stalk journalists. But the group fiercely denies any Chinese government control or access to its data.