The European Commission (EC) has issued a directive that requires every EC employee to uninstall TikTok from their personal devices. This also includes the personal devices of employees if they are utilized for work-related purposes.
In a statement issued today, the Commission stated it took the decision in order to protect itself from security concerns, suggesting that other social media platforms were also on the radar. “This measure aims to protect the Commission against cybersecurity threats and actions which may be exploited for cyber-attacks against the corporate environment of the Commission,” it said. “The security developments of other social media platforms will also be kept under constant review.”
European Commission orders Data Concerns
the European Union’s (EU) executive branch has become the latest of a series of public bodies to block TikTok which is a hugely popular social video application developed by Chinese technology company ByteDance. With more than one billion users worldwide, TikTok has supplanted YouTube among teens and children specifically, which led to the U.K. Parliament to open its own TikTok account in the year last. The account was shut down shortly following concerns raised by politicians about information that could be passed on through ByteDance for China. Chinese government.
Additionally there, in another area, the U.S. House of Representatives recently directed its staff to remove TikTok from work-related devices. Some universities have decided to ban the application from their wireless networks on campus following the governors from state issued executive orders that banned the application’s use within local government agencies.
In the meantime, India banned TikTok — – along with dozens of other apps developed by China -completely back in the year 2020.
Although there is no evidence that suggests TikTok is going to be shut down nationwide within the U.S. or in any European market anytime soon However, the social network is under increased scrutinization over the safety of data information, misinformation and its ability to comply (or in some cases, non-compliance) with the upcoming European Digital Services Act (DSA) regulations designed to improve accountability and transparency across social media platforms.
In the wake of this, TikTok has gone on an extensive PR campaign with infrastructure investment that will allow it to launch its first data centers local to the region to store its European users’ datathe first was planned to be open in the year before, but has been delayed until sometime in 2023. TikTok also made public plans to build two additional data centers in Europe.
In response to the announcement today in response to today’s announcement, a TikTok spokesperson claimed TikTok found itself “disappointed” with the EC’s decision, and added that they believed that the decision could be “misguided and based on fundamental misconceptions.”
“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,” the spokesperson explained. “We’re continuing to enhance our approach to data security, including by establishing three data centres in Europe to store user data locally; further reducing employee access to data; and minimising data flows outside of Europe.”
However, with the EU’s more than 30,000 employees now barred by law from making use of TikTok for official use, it’s possible that these bans will be extended to other members of EU countries as well. In fact, public entities within the Netherlands were recently advised to stay away from TikTok but not to give it the requirement of an official authorization. In the month of December French the president Emmanuel Macron was adamant about TikTok for alleged content censorship and its negative psychological impact on children.
