U.S. officials are targeting TikTok; new laws threaten a national ban unless its parent company, ByteDance, which is based in China, divests. That would be the greatest setback to the well-known video-sharing software, which has encountered several global limitations.
Because of official fears that the software raises privacy and cybersecurity issues, TikTok is already prohibited in a few nations and from government-issued smartphones in many others.
The American law, the product of long-standing bipartisan concerns in Washington that China’s communist leaders may compel ByteDance to provide U.S. user data or stifle or promote particular content, reflects those concerns. TikTok has long insisted that it does not provide data to the Chinese government, and its CEO has declared his intention to retaliate.
Concerned about data security, U.S. officials directed government agencies to remove TikTok from federal devices and networks. Congress and the U.S. military have also outlawed the software on government devices, as have more than half of the 50 states. Attempts in Montana to impose a state-wide ban and a Virginia plan to prohibit children from using it were unsuccessful.
TikTok cannot be used on federally authorized devices in Canada. Citing a “unacceptable” risk to security and privacy, officials said that the software would be deleted from smartphones and that staff members would not be allowed to download it.
These more locations have either full or partial TikTok bans:
Afghanistan
Together with the video game PUBG, TikTok has been outlawed since 2022 when the Taliban leadership in the nation chose to prohibit access on the pretext of shielding youth from “being misled.”
Australie
TikTok is not supported on federal government of Australia provided devices. Attorney General Mark Dreyfus claimed to have taken the choice with the guidance of the nation’s intelligence and security services.
Belgium
Last month, the National Security Council agreed to permanently block TikTok on federal government-owned or -paid devices. Concerns about misinformation, cybersecurity, and privacy led to a brief suspension last year. According to Prime Minister Alexander de Croo, the state security service and cybersecurity center of the nation had issued warnings.
In Denmark
The Defence Ministry of Denmark forbade its staff members from using TikTok on their work phones and instructed those who had loaded the app to delete it as soon as possible. The restriction was imposed, the ministry said, for “very limited work-related need to use the app” as well as “weighty security considerations.”
EUROPEAN UNION
TikTok is now off limits for staff devices at the three primary institutions of the 27-member bloc: the European Parliament, European Commission, and EU Council. Legislators and employees of the European Parliament were also urged to delete the TikTok app from their personal devices in accordance with the ban.
IN FRANCE
Worries over inadequate data security safeguards have led to the restriction on “recreational” usage of TikTok and other social media apps like Twitter and Instagram on the phones of government workers. The French government named no particular apps, although it did point out that the decision was made following actions by other nations against TikTok.
ASIA
In 2020, on privacy and security worries, India banned TikTok and hundreds of other Chinese apps, including the messaging app WeChat, across the country. The prohibition followed a battle near a disputed Himalayan boundary that claimed the lives of twenty Indian soldiers and injured many more. Although the businesses had an opportunity to answer queries regarding security and privacy, the prohibition was extended until 2021.
Philippines
Only its online shopping feature is outlawed in the vast, populated Southeast Asian country, where the government clamped down on e-commerce transactions conducted on social media sites in an effort to safeguard local companies.
LATIVIA
TikTok is banned on official foreign ministry cellphones, and foreign minister Edgars Rinkevics tweeted that he had deactivated his account.
Netherlands
Citing data security issues, the Dutch central government barred apps like TikTok from employee work phones. “From countries with an offensive cyber program against the Netherlands and/or Dutch interests installed and used on their mobile work devices,” a government statement said, without mentioning TikTok by name.
In Nepal
Saying it was upsetting “social harmony” and goodwill and blaming it for a “flow of indecent materials,” the Himalayan nation banned TikTok nationally. Authorities gave the telecom firm instructions to restrict app access.
AUSTRALIA
Government cybersecurity experts have advised against having the TikTok app on work phones by New Zealand lawmakers and staff members at the country’s Parliament. The software was taken off of all devices that could connect to the parliamentary network, but officials can make special arrangements for anyone who requires TikTok to carry out their democratic responsibilities.
NORWAY
The Norwegian Justice Ministry advised against installing Tiktok on phones provided to government workers, and the parliament of that nation outlawed the app on work-issued smartphones. The speaker of the parliament declared that TikTok should be deleted as soon as feasible and should not be on any devices that have access to the systems of the assembly. Second-largest city Bergen and the nation’s capital, Oslo, also advised municipal workers to delete TikTok from their work phones.
Afghanistan
TikTok has been momentarily blocked by Pakistani authorities at least four times since 2020, with the claim that the app encourages immoral material.
Southern Africa
Along with Telegram, a messaging app, and 1XBET, the government gave telecom firms instructions to prohibit access to TikTok. Concerned that the sites might disseminate extremist material, graphic photos, and other items deemed objectionable to Somali Islam and culture, officials said.
TAIWAN
The FBI had cautioned that TikTok constituted a threat to national security, thus Taiwan banned the app in the public sector. Chinese-made software—which includes apps like TikTok, its Chinese version Douyin, and Xiaohongshu, a Chinese lifestyle content app—is not permitted to be used on government devices, including desktop computers, tablets, and mobile phones.
English United Kingdom
TikTok was outlawed in Britain on the phones of civil staff and ministers. Personal gadgets are exempt from the “precautionary move” security-related prohibition, according to officials. TikTok was later outlawed by the British Parliament on all official devices and the “wider parliamentary network.” London City Hall and the somewhat autonomous Scottish government have similarly outlawed TikTok on work computers. Unless utilizing TikTok for journalistic and marketing purposes, staff members are advised by the BBC to remove the app from company devices.