ASIATODAY.ID, JAKARTA – The United States (US) House of Representatives will vote on a law banning the social media platform TikTok next Tuesday.
US President Joe Biden is expected to support the law. Apart from the US, there are a number of countries that want the TikTok service to disappear from their territory.
Reporting from The New York Times, Monday, April 22 2024, lawmakers and regulators in Western countries are increasingly concerned that TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, may hand over sensitive user data, such as location information, into the hands of the Chinese government.
They point to laws that allow the Chinese government to secretly request data from Chinese companies and citizens for intelligence-gathering operations.
In addition, they are also concerned that China could use TikTok’s content recommendations to fuel misinformation.
Quoted from The Economic Times, Monday, April 22 2024, the following is a list of countries that have implemented a partial or complete ban on TikTok:
1. United States
The US government has banned federal agencies from using TikTok on devices and systems citing data security concerns.
Additionally, at least 34 of the 50 states, including Texas, Maryland, Alabama, and Utah, have banned state government agencies, employees, and contractors from using TikTok on government-issued devices.
After the ban from the government, state universities also chose to prohibit the use of Wi-Fi on campus and on university computers for TikTok.
Boise State University, the University of Oklahoma, the University of Texas-Austin, and West Texas A&M University are among the schools that have banned TikTok on university devices and Wi-Fi networks.
2. India
India also banned TikTok and a number of other Chinese apps nationwide in 2020 citing privacy and security concerns after border clashes with China.
3. European Union
The European Parliament, European Commission and Council of the European Union, the three main institutions in the 27-nation bloc, have banned TikTok on staff devices. Under the European Parliament’s ban, MEPs and staff were also advised to delete the TikTok app from their personal devices.
4. Australia
Australia has banned TikTok from federally issued devices. Attorney General Mark Dreyfus said he made the decision after receiving advice from state intelligence and security agencies.
5. Belgium
Belgium banned TikTok from government phones over concerns about cybersecurity, privacy and misinformation.
6. Canada
Canada announced that government-issued devices cannot use TikTok, citing “unacceptable” risks to privacy and security.
7. France
The country has banned TikTok and other social media apps such as Twitter and Instagram on government employees’ phones citing concerns about a lack of data security measures.
8. New Zealand
New Zealand MPs and Parliament staff will be banned from using the TikTok app on their work phones, following advice from government cybersecurity experts.
9. United Kingdom
British authorities have also banned TikTok from mobile phones used by government ministers and civil servants.
10. Afghanistan
The Taliban leadership in Afghanistan banned TikTok and PUBG games in 2022 on the grounds of protecting the younger generation from being “misled”.
11. Pakistan
Over the years, Pakistan has banned TikTok at least four times citing its “immoral and indecent” content.
12. Nepal
The Nepalese government has imposed a nationwide ban on TikTok to protect “social harmony.”
13. Taiwan
In December 2022, Taiwan imposed a public sector ban on TikTok after the FBI warned that the app posed a national security risk.
Government devices, including phones, tablets and desktop computers, are not allowed to use software made in China, including TikTok. (ATN)
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