The European Commission on Thursday, February 22, banned TikTok on government-issued devices in response to concerns about spying, a decision which the Chinese social media giant called “misguided.”
TikTok, whose parent company ByteDance is Chinese, has come under closer investigation as concerns over Beijing’s access to user data have grown in the West.
The EU is trying to improve its cybersecurity, thus the new prohibition also prevents employees of the European Commission from using the video-sharing app on personal devices, including phones that have installed official EU communication apps.
Employees must uninstall the app as soon as they can before March 15.
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The corporate management board of the European Commission, the EU’s executive branch, decided to take this action for security reasons, according to EU spokeswoman Sonya Gospodinova.
“The measure aims to protect the Commission against cybersecurity threats and actions which may be exploited for cyberattacks against the corporate environment of the commission,” she said.
There was no immediate word on whether other EU organizations, like the European Parliament or the European Council, which represents member states, will adopt similar steps.
Following the announcement, EU industry commissioner Thierry Breton highlighted the cybersecurity concerns that he said had influenced the decision.
Breton told reporters, “As an institution, the European Commission has, from the beginning of the mandate, a very strong focus on cybersecurity, protecting our colleagues and, of course, everyone who is working here in the Commission.”
A spokesperson for TikTok said it was “disappointed with this decision, which we believe to be misguided and based on fundamental misconceptions.”
TikTok acknowledged in November that some employees in China have access to the data of customers in Europe.
The corporation, however, disputes any access or control by the Chinese government.
On Thursday, TikTok emphasized that it was taking steps to increase data security and that it protected the data of 125 million users per month in the European Union on its app.
