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France became the latest country to restrict TikTok usage on Friday, banning public-sector employees from downloading “recreational applications” on their work phones. The development came even as TikTok CEO Shou Chew appeared before the US Congress and calls for a ban grew louder.
“The government has decided from now on to ban the downloading and installation of recreational applications on professional telephones given to public servants,” news agency AFP said, quoting a ministerial source.
The list of application would include “game apps like Candy Crush, streaming apps like Netflix and recreational apps like TikTok”. According to officials, such ‘recreational applications’ did not present “sufficient levels of cybersecurity and data protection to be deployed on administrative equipment”.
ALSO READ: What TikTok CEO was asked in his first appearance before US Congress? 10 points
The hugely popular social media website has recently faced growing calls for boycott, with the restrictions European Commission as well as governments in the Netherlands, Britain, the United States, Canada and New Zealand restricting usage. These countries have told officials that they cannot use the mobile phone app on work devices over fears of ties to the communist government in Beijing.
TikTok meanwhile insists that the Chinese government has no control over or access to its data. China “has never and will not require companies or individuals to collect or provide data located in a foreign country, in a way that violates local law”, foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Friday.
In November however, the firm had acknowledged that some employees in China could access European user data. Soon after this, it had also said that employees had used the data to spy on journalists.
(With inputs from agencies)
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