If you work for the EU Commission, you have to delete the social media app Tiktok because of security concerns on the work phone. In addition, the application, which belongs to a Chinese company, must also be removed from private devices by 15 March, provided that apps of the EU Commission are also used on them. This was confirmed by a spokeswoman for the Brussels-based authority on Thursday.
Accordingly, it is a provisional measure to be reviewed regularly. Tiktok criticized the move. "We are disappointed by this decision, which in our opinion is misguided and based on fundamental misunderstandings," a spokeswoman said. They had contacted the EU Commission to correct this.
FDP MEP Moritz Körner supported the decision. "German authorities should follow this step and also ban the China app from all German mobile phones as soon as possible," demanded Körner.
The platform is accused of insufficient data security
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 this.
In the United States, then-President Donald Trump threatened to ban Tiktok a few years ago. He pointed to concerns that Chinese authorities could use TikTok data to gather information about Americans. The administration of incumbent President Joe Biden is also putting pressure on the service. The Wall Street Journal reported that Tiktok had presented Washington with a plan for a far-reaching restructuring of its American business in order to remain active in the US.
According to Tiktok, about one billion users were active in the month of January last year. The application ranked sixth among the most popular social media platforms worldwide. Facebook, Youtube, Whatsapp, Instagram and WeChat had significantly more users.