Status: 02/23/2023 2:39 p.m
TikTok dances, the latest food trends or challenges: For employees of the EU Commission, this will be taboo on the company cell phone in the future. The video portal app may no longer be installed.
Employees of the EU Commission have to delete the social media app TikTok from their service devices due to security concerns. In addition, the video app belonging to a Chinese company must be removed from private devices on which apps from the EU Commission are used by March 15, a spokeswoman for the Brussels authority confirmed.
The reason for the decision are concerns about cyber security. According to the spokeswoman, this is a temporary measure that should be reviewed regularly.
TikTok criticized the move: “We are disappointed with this decision, which we believe is misguided and based on fundamental misunderstandings,” said a spokeswoman. The EU Commission was contacted to correct this.
FDP: German authorities should follow suit
The FDP MEP Moritz Körner supported the measure against it. “German authorities should follow suit and also ban the China app from all German business cell phones as quickly as possible,” Körner demanded.
The Internet platform TikTok, which belongs to the Chinese ByteDance group, has long been accused of insufficient data security and a lack of protection for young users. It is feared, for example, that the Chinese state could have access to TikTok data. TikTok rejects that.
Pressure on TikTok from Washington
In the United States, then-President Donald Trump threatened to ban TikTok a few years ago. He cited concerns that Chinese authorities could use TikTok data to gather information about Americans.
Joe Biden’s government is also putting pressure on the service. The “Wall Street Journal” recently reported that TikTok had presented Washington with a plan for a far-reaching restructuring of the US business in order to remain active in the USA.