EU institutions ban TikTok, ‘it’s not safe’

TikTok banned on the mobile phones of employees of the European Commission and of the Council, while the European Parliament is also evaluating a similar move: the Brussels institutions have kicked off the famous Chinese app for sharing short videos due to problems related to cyber-security.

There is a ‘strong focus on protecting cyber security and that’s why we took this decision’, explained EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton. For its part, the social network replied that it was a ‘wrong’ and ‘based on prejudices’ decision. ‘The Chinese government has never asked us for access to the data and if it did we would not grant it to them’, said TikTok’s head of institutional relations for Southern Europe Giacomo Lev Mannheimer.

However, the app will have to be uninstalled by 15 March from company mobile phones of Commission staff and from private ones with access to the mobile phone service.

The executive did not let it be known whether they had been the victim of specific IT incidents related to TikTok, but specified that they had shared their assessments with the other institutions. They then ruled out similar initiatives on other platforms, which are also constantly monitored by IT services. The suspension of TikTok is temporary and will be subject to re-evaluation.