Downing Street rejects calls to ban officials from using TikTok

Downing Street rejects calls to ban government officials from using TikTok as EU staff are ordered to delete the app over China spying fears

•  EU Commission staff were told to remove TikTok from any work phones
•  The US implemented a similar ban on federal phones late last year 

Downing Street last night rejected calls to ban government officials from using Tiktok after EU staff were told to delete the Chinese-owned app over security fears.

No 10 stressed that the decision over whether to use the controversial social media platform was up to individual departments and ministers to decide.

EU Commission staff were told yesterday to remove TikTok from any work phones and personal devices with work-related apps installed. 

It follows Joe Biden implementing a similar ban on federal phones in the US late last year as Washington believes Beijing is hoovering up private data from officials via TikTok. 

The Houses of Parliament stopped using its TikTok account last year after Westminster politicians said Parliament ‘cannot and should not legitimise the use of an app which has been described by tech experts as essentially Chinese government spyware’.

Downing Street last night rejected calls to ban government officials from using Tiktok after EU staff were told to delete the Chinese-owned app over security fears

Energy Secretary Grant Shapps said it was important that MPs were ‘not chased off from engaging with our constituents on the platforms they actually use’

Commons foreign affairs committee chairman Alicia Kearns said last night: ‘The foremost responsibility of government is to keep its people safe – ministers do not need to have TikTok on their phones to use the platform, and most certainly should not have it on their phones.

READ MORE: European Commission BANS TikTok on official devices over spying fears – but the Chinese social media giant calls the move ‘misguided’

‘The Government should be communicating the risks so that the public can be informed and make their own decision.’ Luke de Pulford, from the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, added: ‘When it comes to data security, the UK Government is asleep at the wheel.

‘MPs have been raising the alarm about TikTok for years, and have been ignored.

‘Now the US and EU have both moved and the UK is dragging its feet. The Government shouldn’t wait until pushed by the Information Commissioner and should act to protect the data security of government officials immediately.’

A number of senior MPs, including Energy Secretary Grant Shapps, are prominent users of the platform.

Last week he said it was important that MPs were ‘not chased off from engaging with our constituents on the platforms they actually use’.

TikTok has repeatedly faced – and denied – allegations that it harvests data from its users and hands it over to China’s leadership.

A TikTok spokesman criticised the Brussels decision, claiming it was based on ‘fundamental misconceptions’ of how the platform works.

But only last year, TikTok’s parent company ByteDance admitted the personal data of users could be accessed at their Chinese HQ.

Staff at the Commission, which drafts EU laws for the bloc and conducts trade negotiations on behalf of all 27 members – including talks with Britain, have until March 15 to delete the app.

A spokesman for the European Parliament refused to rule out taking similar action against the company.

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