Why is the European Parliament banning the social media app TikTok on staff phones?
Diario ASFeb 28, 2023
Following suit with decisions from the European Commission and the EU Council last week, the European Parliament on Tuesday banned TikTok from staff devices, underlining mounting unease over allegations that the social media app allows the Chinese government to harvest users' data.
The new ban means that staff at the European institutions cannot use the video-sharing app — owned by Chinese firm ByteDance — on work devices, or personal devices that have official EU communication apps installed. Employees must remove the app by March 15.
TikTok creator ByteDance has come under increased scrutiny from governments and regulators over fears that Beijing could gain access to the company's database, something it could use to harvest users' data to spy on Western nations to advance China's interests. The EU institutions' ban on TikTok is based on legitimate security concerns.
TikTok was caught completely off guard when the European Union’s executive arm told its staff to delete the video-sharing app from phones last week. The EU never reached out to the company prior to its decision, nor did it previously voice its concerns. Normally, EU institutions would inform a company of any case against it and what any relevant evidence had shown. They never gave TikTok a chance to defend itself.
There is a 20% chance the US will ban TikTok before 2024, according to the Metaculus prediction community.