TikTok banned on government devices in New Zealand: report

After the United States, the United Kingdom and New Zealand became the latest Western countries to ban China-owned video-sharing platform TikTok on “government devices” citing security fears, the report reported. New York Times.

The United Kingdom announced a ban on TikTok on Thursday with immediate effect, citing security fears over ownership of the video-sharing app by a Chinese company.

Speaking in parliament, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Oliver Dowden, called the ban a “precaution”, even though the United States, the European Union executive, Canada and India had already taken similar measures.

Dowden said social media apps collect and store massive amounts of user data, including contacts, user content and geolocation data on government devices that may be sensitive, according to The New York Times.

Post COVID-19, TikTok has garnered more suspicion than most because of its owner, Chinese company ByteDance.

Britain’s actions reflect fears expressed in various Western governments that TikTok could share sensitive data from devices used by politicians and senior officials with the government in Beijing.

The ban was announced on Thursday after news of tougher policy in Britain. On Monday, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak described China as a “historic challenge” to the international order.

The new instruction applies only to official work phones of government officials, and it was described by Dowden as a proportionate approach to address a potential vulnerability in government data, The New York Times reported.

In a statement on Thursday, TikTok said it was disappointed with the UK government’s decision, saying the bans imposed on it were “based on fundamental misconceptions and driven by broader geopolitics”. It added that it was taking steps to protect UK user data.

Several UK government departments have TikTok accounts as part of their public outreach, including the country’s Ministry of Defence, and just a day ago, Michelle Donelan, Secretary of State for Science, to innovation and technology, said the app was safe for Brits. to use.

“As far as the general public is concerned, it’s absolutely a personal choice, but because we have the strictest data protection laws in the world, we are confident that the public can continue to use it,” a- she told lawmakers in parliament.

Previously, the United States had threatened to ban TikTok from the country unless the app’s Chinese owners agreed to divest their share of the social media platform, TikTok acknowledged late Wednesday.

In response to the post, TikTok chief executive Shou Zi Chew said handing the company over to its Chinese owners — a move the US is now demanding — offers no more protection than a plan. multi-billion dollar deal that the company has already offered, Wall Street Journal reported.