LONDON –
TikTok is within the crosshairs of authorities within the U.S., the place a brand new regulation threatens a nationwide ban until its China-based father or mother ByteDance divests. It could be the largest blow but to the favored video-sharing app, which has confronted varied restrictions around the globe.
TikTok is already banned in a handful of nations and from government-issued units in quite a lot of others, attributable to official worries that the app poses privateness and cybersecurity considerations.
These fears are mirrored within the U.S. regulation, which is the fruits of long-held bipartisan fears in Washington that China’s communist leaders may drive ByteDance handy over U.S. person information, or affect Individuals by suppressing or selling sure content material. TikTok has lengthy maintained that it does not share information with the Chinese language authorities and its CEO has taken a defiant stance, vowing to battle again.
Listed here are the locations which have partial or complete bans on TikTok:
Afghanistan
TikTok has been banned since 2022, together with videogame PUBG, after the nation’s Taliban management determined to forbid entry on the grounds of defending younger individuals from “being misled.”
Australia
TikTok is just not allowed on units issued by the Australian federal authorities. Lawyer-Common Mark Dreyfus stated he made the choice after getting recommendation from the nation’s intelligence and safety companies.
Belgium
The Nationwide Safety Council determined final month to indefinitely ban TikTok from units owned or paid for by the federal authorities. The ban was issued on a brief foundation final yr on worries about cybersecurity, privateness and misinformation. Prime Minister Alexander de Croo stated it was primarily based on warnings from the nation’s state safety service and cybersecurity centre.
Canada
Units issued by the federal authorities are forbidden from utilizing TikTok. Officers cited an “unacceptable” threat to privateness and safety and stated the app can be faraway from units and workers blocked from downloading it.
China
TikTok has by no means been accessible in mainland China, a incontrovertible fact that CEO Shou Chew has talked about in testimony to U.S. lawmakers. ByteDance as an alternative provides Chinese language customers Douyin, the same video-sharing app that follows Beijing’s strict censorship guidelines. TikTok additionally ceased operations in Hong Kong after a sweeping Chinese language nationwide safety regulation took impact.
Denmark
Denmark’s Defence Ministry banned its workers from having TikTok on their work telephones, ordering staffers who’ve put in it to take away the app from units as quickly as doable. The ministry stated the explanations for the ban included each “weighty safety concerns” in addition to “very restricted work-related want to make use of the app.”
European Union
The European Parliament, European Fee and the EU Council, the 27-member bloc’s three principal establishments, have imposed bans on TikTok on workers units. Beneath the European Parliament’s ban, lawmakers and workers had been additionally suggested to take away the TikTok app from their private units.
France
“Leisure” use of TikTok and different social media apps like Twitter and Instagram on authorities workers’ telephones has been banned due to worries about inadequate information safety measures. The French authorities did not title particular apps however famous the choice got here after different governments took measures concentrating on TikTok.
India
India imposed a nationwide ban on TikTok and dozens of different Chinese language apps like messaging app WeChat in 2020 over privateness and safety considerations. The ban got here shortly after a conflict between Indian and Chinese language troops at a disputed Himalayan border killed 20 Indian troopers and injured dozens. The businesses got an opportunity to reply to questions on privateness and safety necessities however the ban was made everlasting in 2021.
Indonesia
TikTok is not fully banned within the sprawling, populous Southeast Asian nation, solely its on-line retail perform, after the authorities clamped down on e-commerce transactions carried out on social media platforms in a bid to guard small companies.
Latvia
Overseas Minister Edgars Rinkevics tweeted that he deleted his TikTok account and that the app can also be prohibited from official international ministry smartphones.
Netherlands
The Dutch central authorities banned apps together with TikTok from worker work telephones citing information safety considerations. A authorities assertion didn’t title TikTok particularly however stated civil servants are discouraged from having apps “from nations with an offensive cyber program towards the Netherlands and/or Dutch pursuits put in and used on their cell work units.”
Nepal
The Himalayan nation imposed a nationwide ban on TikTok, saying it was disrupting “social concord” and goodwill and blaming it for a “stream of indecent supplies.” Authorities ordered the telecom firm to dam entry to the app.
New Zealand
Lawmakers in New Zealand and workers on the nation’s Parliament are prohibited from having the TikTok app on their work telephones, following recommendation from authorities cybersecurity specialists. The app was faraway from all units with entry to the parliamentary community, though officers could make particular preparations for anyone who wants TikTok to carry out their democratic duties.
Norway
The Norwegian parliament banned Tiktok on work units after the nation’s Justice Ministry warned the app should not be put in on telephones issued to authorities workers. The Parliament’s speaker stated TikTok should not be on units which have entry to the meeting’s programs and ought to be eliminated as shortly as doable. The nation’s capital Oslo and second largest metropolis Bergen additionally urged municipal workers to take away TikTok from their work telephones.
Pakistan
Pakistani authorities have quickly banned TikTok a minimum of 4 occasions since 2020, citing considerations that the app promotes immoral content material.
Somalia
The federal government ordered telecom firms to dam entry to TikTok, together with messaging app Telegram and playing platform 1XBET. Officers stated they had been involved that the platforms may unfold extremist content material, nude photographs and different materials seen as offensive to Somali tradition and Islam.
Taiwan
Taiwan imposed a public sector ban on TikTok after the FBI warned that the app posed a nationwide safety threat. Authorities units, together with cell phones, tablets and desktop computer systems, will not be allowed to make use of Chinese language-made software program, which incorporates apps like TikTok, its Chinese language equal Douyin, or Xiaohongshu, a Chinese language life-style content material app.
United Kingdom
British authorities banned TikTok from cell phones utilized by authorities ministers and civil servants. Officers stated the ban was a “precautionary transfer” on safety grounds and does not apply to private units. The British Parliament adopted up by banning TikTok from all official units and the “wider parliamentary community.” The semi-autonomous Scottish authorities and London Metropolis Corridor additionally banned TikTok from workers units. The BBC urged workers to delete TikTok from company units until they’re utilizing it for editorial and advertising and marketing causes.
United States
U.S. authorities ordered authorities companies to delete TikTok from federal units and programs over information safety considerations. Greater than half of the 50 U.S. states even have banned the app from official units, as have Congress and the U.S. armed forces. Montana’s efforts to usher in a state-wide ban failed, as did a proposal in Virginia to dam children from utilizing it.
