The U.K. has joined other countries in banning the Chinese short video app TikTok from Government devices.
U.K ministers had reviewed whether Government data could be compromised from social networks installed on work devices.
Based on the findings of the review, the U.K. has decided on a “precautionary ban” for TikTok.
However, the Government has said that employees can still use TikTok on personal devices.
TikTok has blown to popularity, claiming well over 1 billion users. Moreover, TikTok has overtaken the mighty YouTube as the preeminent social video app among teens.
The U.K.’s ban does not come as a surprise. Days earlier, the U.K. Parliament closed its official TikTok account a few days after launch when politicians raised concerns that sensitive data could be passed to TikTok’s parent company ByteDance, which is based in China.
TikTok has suffered a swathe of bans from other jurisdictions. The U.S. House of Representatives, back in December, banned TikTok while the European Union and Canada issued blanket delete notices for TikTok on Government devices last month.
Belgium also announced a ban last week, while the Netherlands is considering a similar path.
nationwide
