UK government to ban its employees from using TikTok

  • Thursday, March 16th, 2023
  • Author: Tim Green
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Fears of Chinese government surveillance have prompted the UK government to remove TikTok from ministers and civil servants phones.

The BBC has reported that Cabinet Office Minister Oliver Dowden will make a statement to MPs today (March 16). If the action goes ahead, the UK will be following the example set by the US and the EU, both of which have banned the app from governmental use. The UK Parliament closed its TikTok account last August while Downing Street page has not posted since September

That said, a number of government departments do still operate TikTok accounts – using them as a channel through which to share news with the public.

TikTok has repeatedly denied any surveillance activity and says this is based on “misplaced fears and seemingly driven by wider geopolitics”, adding it would be “disappointed by such a move” in the UK.

Despite this move by the government ministers are not advising the public to take similar action. Science and Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan, said: “It is absolutely a personal choice. But because we have the strongest data protection laws in the world, we are confident that the public can continue to use it.”

TikTok has enjoyed sensational growth in the last five years. It is now the worlds most downloaded app. It has generated more than 3.5 billion lifetime downloads and has passed $6 billion in all-time consumer spending.