Opinion | Banning TikTok Should Be Just the Beginning
New York TimesMar 18, 2023
France has banned "recreational" apps such as TikTok on government staff phones, the Ministry of Public Sector Transformation and the Civil Service announced on Friday.
The ban is a result of concerns about insufficient data security measures. French Minister for Transformation and Public Administration Stanislas Guerini says the apps aren't safe enough to be used in state administrative services and could pose a "risk for the protection of data.”
TikTok is a major threat to national security for countries around the world. It's owned by a Chinese company that is subject to Chinese laws that could force it to hand over private data. The app could be used as spyware to collect sensitive data about everywhere we go and everything we do. The stakes are enormous, and TikTok is just one small part of the Chinese technological surveillance threat.
The suppression and disinformation about TikTok stem from blatant anti-China sentiment. There's no evidence that it presents a national security threat to any country or that there have been any data breaches. The bans go against the concept of having an open, fair, and non-discriminatory environment for foreign businesses. This unjustifiable censorship is hypocritical and anti-democratic. Let the people have their social media videos.