The European Commission has announced a ban on TikTok for its employees on both work and personal devices enrolled in the Commission mobile device service, with all employees required to comply by March 15, 2023.
This decision follows increasing concerns from governments and regulators regarding Chinese-owned app TikTok, which has over 125 million users in Europe. The EU’s move follows a US Senate decision in December 2022, which banned federal employees from using TikTok on government-owned devices. India has also banned the app due to fears that the Chinese government could use the app to harvest users’ data or advance its interests.
The European Commission stated that the ban is necessary to protect the organization against cybersecurity threats and actions that could be exploited for cyberattacks against the corporate environment of the Commission. TikTok, owned by ByteDance, is under scrutiny from various governments and regulators, and this move is intended to reduce any risks associated with the app’s use by EU staff.
TikTok responded to the announcement, “We are disappointed with this decision, which we believe to be misguided and based on fundamental misconceptions,” said a spokesperson for TikTok. “We have contacted the commission to set the record straight and explain how we protect the data of the 125 million people across the EU who come to TikTok every month.”
TikTok announced last week that it would establish two additional data centers on the continent in an effort to build trust in Europe. However, it appears that this was insufficient to persuade the European Commission to alter its stance regarding the security concerns associated with TikTok.
