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The Greater London Authority (GLA) said TikTok will no longer be available on official devices at City Hall of London as Chinese social media apps face a global expulsion from public institutions.
London’s TikTok ban comes after Westminster and Holyrood banned the app on government devices in England and Scotland over security concerns.
Under UK devolution rules, in some policy areas the Central Government of Westminster is solely responsible for England, with Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland developing their own policies. Some areas of England, including London, have devolution agreements that give them more power to make local decisions.
In an email to The Epoch Times on Saturday, a GLA spokesperson said: Following a government decision, TikTok will no longer be available on his GLA device. ”
In response to the latest ban, a TikTok spokesperson said:
“We can meet with the mayor to address our concerns, but it should be judged on the facts and treated on a par with our competitors.
“We have begun implementing a comprehensive plan to further protect European user data, including storing UK user data in European data centers and strengthening data access controls. This includes third-party independent oversight of our approach.”
recent bans
A growing number of institutions around the world are taking action on official devices due to concerns such as privacy, the impact of app algorithms on the mental health and political opinions of children and young people, and Beijing-based TikTok’s parent company ByteDance. ‘s TikTok is banned.
The Principality of Lancaster, Oliver Dowden, announced on March 16 that the UK government would ban TikTok from devices at all government, agency and independent institutions. Sensitive government data is accessed and used by certain platforms. ”
Scotland followed suit on 23 March after consultations with Westminster. Deputy Prime Minister John Swinney said: On government devices, that data can be sensitive. ”
The same day, the House of Representatives announced that the app would be blocked from all Congressional devices and the wider Congressional Network.
BBC It was also reported last week that employees were told to remove TikTok from corporate mobile devices. This made him the second media organization to do so after Danish public broadcaster DR advised employees not to use the app.
India banned TikTok and dozens of other Chinese apps in June 2020, while Taiwan banned TikTok and several other Chinese apps on state-owned devices, and in December 2022, on the island. has launched an investigation into a social media app for alleged illegal operations.
Recently, the European Union, New Zealand Parliament, and the governments of France, Belgium, Canada, Vancouver, the White House, and many states in the United States have also announced bans on TikTok on official and sometimes private devices. You can access the official network.
Beijing-based ByteDance employs members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) at the highest ranks.The company, like many organizations in China, is also bound by the regime’s National Intelligence Law. The law requires all organizations and citizens to “help, assist and cooperate in national intelligence efforts.”
Beijing ‘strongly opposes’ separation of TikTok and Bytedance
TikTok recently said it faces a total ban in the US unless ByteDance sells its shares, but Beijing said on Thursday that the sale of TikTok must be decided by the ruling Communist Party government. rice field.
Asked about the reported proposal, Ministry of Commerce spokeswoman Shu Jueting said: told reporters Beijing “strongly opposes” the forced separation of TikTok and ByteDance, saying the sale of TikTok raises technology export issues and must comply with Chinese law.
The statement was issued hours before the United States House Energy and Commerce Committee Yakishiko biteTikTok’s Singapore-born CEO talks about data privacy and the app’s impact on children.
In five hours of testimony, Chew told lawmakers he believed some U.S. user data was still stored on servers abroad and would be deleted this year.
Asked about an ongoing Justice Department investigation into ByteDance employees illegally using TikTok data to unwittingly track an American journalist, Chew said, I said that I do not agree with the
One concern about TikTok is the censorship of topics that the CCP regime hates, such as the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre and the ongoing massacre of Uyghurs.
When asked by Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-Arizona) if she agreed with the Chinese Communist regime’s persecution of Uyghurs, Chu dismissed the question, saying she was there to talk about TikTok. Dodged 5 times.
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