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EU Parliament, Japan and Canada Banned Government Use of TikTok

Popular Hong Kong online media HK01 Network recently reported that, following the European Commission and the Council of the European Union, the European Parliament is expected to announce a ban on government use of TikTok. In addition to prohibiting Parliament employees from installing TikTok on their work smartphones, private devices having access to the Parliament’s emails and the Parliament’s networks are also included. The Parliament is worried about TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, and that the Chinese government may use the app to collect personal data and other information. In Denmark, one of the EU member states, its parliament also strongly recommended that parliamentarians and employees delete TikTok.

According to major Taiwanese news network Liberty Times Network (LTN), almost at the same time, Japanese government spokesman and Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroichi Matsuno stated at a press conference that, for network security reasons, government employees are prohibited from using TikTok and other social media services that require connection to external networks on mobile phones and other terminal devices that may be involved in processing confidential information. Also in the meantime, the Canadian government announced that the use of TikTok on government devices and equipment is prohibited, citing information security risks. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said this could be the first step. With the government banning TikTok, many Canadians and businesses will reflect on their online security and may choose to do so too.

Sources:
(1) HK01, March 1, 2023
https://bit.ly/3kLq05A
(2) LTN, February 28, 2023
https://news.ltn.com.tw/news/world/paper/1569473
https://news.ltn.com.tw/news/world/breakingnews/4224212