Concerns about Chinese spying via TikTok are ongoing. 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 website that the staff received an email on Sunday in which the group says it "does not recommend installing TikTok on a BBC business device, unless there is a justified professional reason". "If you don't need TikTok for business reasons, you need to remove TikTok," it added.
Malicious use of data by TikTok?
The new guidelines come as the UK 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 activities 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, is under increasing Western scrutiny due to fears that Beijing could access user data around the world. TikTok acknowledged in November that some employees in China could access European user data and admitted in December that employees had used the data to track journalists. But the group vehemently denies any Chinese government control or access to its data.
- Tech
- By the Web
- United Kingdom
- TikTok
- Bbc
- China
- Espionage