The European Parliament has decided to ban Chinese social network TikTok on the institution’s work devices, citing data security concerns, after a similar move by the European Commission.
The President of Parliament, Roberta Metsola, and the Secretary General, Alessandro Chiocchetti, have decided that the TikTok application can no longer be used on professional devices, such as computers, mobile phones or tablets, from March 20.
“On this date, Internet access to the social network from Parliament’s computers will be blocked”, it was specified in a letter made public on Tuesday evening, distributed by the Directorate General for Innovation and Technological Support of the Parliament to the attention of its approximately 8,000 civil servants and agents.
In addition, it is also “strongly” recommended that employees of the institution as well as elected officials and parliamentary assistants remove TikTok from their personal devices.
The European Commission announced last Thursday that its staff had until March 15 at the latest to uninstall the application. A similar measure must be taken by the European Council, the body representing the 27 Member States.
A TikTok spokesperson said on Wednesday that these decisions were “misguided and based on misconceptions. […] on fears rather than facts. The group calls for “due process and equal treatment” with other companies in the sector.
France Media Agency