The European Commission has banned its officials from using TikTok, asking them to delete the app from their mobile device by March 15.
The European Commission has banned its officials from using TikTok, asking them to delete the app from their mobile device. The decision, strong in no uncertain terms, was made because of security concerns related to data collection and Chinese ownership of the app.
Commission staff were therefore ordered to delete the short video app from their cell phones and corporate devices, including personal devices that use the commission’s apps, according to sources close to the EU executive body.
Employees were given until March 15 to get rid of it, the commission said in an email sent to employees Thursday, an email that was viewed by Bloomberg news agency and also by Politico.
This is a strong decision, as we said earlier, and comes after weeks of concerns expressed by the Commission, concerns that also plague the United States and the United Kingdom, which are increasingly concerned about the potential national security risk posed by TikTok, given apprehensions related to its Chinese parent company, ByteDance Ltd.
The EU Commission’s ban follows the U.S. Congress’ decision late last year to restrict TikTok’s access to federal government devices.
The Dutch intelligence agency is also investigating the potential risks associated with the use of TikTok by government employees.
And just a few days ago we were giving you news about how important the European market, where it has over 150 million users, was for TikTok. The announcement of the growing number of followers was also accompanied by the announcement of new investments in Europe, such as the creation of a second data center in Ireland with negotiations underway to develop a third data center in Europe. The Chinese company informed that, by virtue of these realizations, European user data will begin migrating to the new data centers this year and continue into 2024.
Now, it will have to be understood what kind of consequences the European Commission’s decision may generate across the board. A call for an expanded ban on the use of the app is now increasingly taking shape in the United States, in view of the upcoming 2024 presidential election campaign.