The short video app TikTok has been banned by several institutions around the world due to concerns about cybersecurity and data usage. This week, the Netherlands and France joined the list of countries banning the use of TikTok on the cell phones of government officials. The BBC also advised its journalists to uninstall the social network.
Experts have pointed out that the motive behind these bans is mistrust of China, as TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, is based in Beijing and is allegedly linked to the Communist Party. There are fears that the data collected by the app could be shared with the Chinese government. While there is no solid evidence of this relationship, TikTok’s poor cybersecurity reputation has been bolstered by some incidents, such as spying on journalists and communications from the social network itself.
Despite these allegations, TikTok has denied any surveillance of Americans and has denied any relationship with the Chinese government. The list of institutions, media outlets, and even countries that have banned or discouraged TikTok dates back to 2020, when the Indian government blocked 59 mobile apps, including TikTok. Indian users have been without access to the platform ever since.
In 2020, the US government then led by Donald Trump banned the use of TikTok and WeChat, a move that was halted by the judiciary and eventually reversed by Joe Biden in 2021. However, the European Commission and the Council of the European Union banned the use of TikTok on their employees’ corporate devices, a measure that has been adopted by France, Canada, Denmark, Taiwan, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Belgium, and New Zealand.
TikTok’s global expansion began in 2018, and the coronavirus pandemic and confinement further boosted its popularity in 2021, surpassing even Google as the world’s most popular website. Meanwhile, cybersecurity concerns have led several institutions to ban use of the app. While there are legitimate concerns about data security, some experts point out that other apps also trade data, and that mistrust of China is the main reason behind the TikTok ban.