Will TikTok Really be Banned?
Will TikTok Really be Banned?
The UK Government has joined others and pulled TikTok off official devices.
Pressure is mounting on TikTok. The popular short-form video app was banned on UK Government phones on Thursday. In a statement, Chancellor of Duchy of Lancaster Oliver Dowden said:
The security of sensitive government information must come first, so today we are banning this app on government devices. The use of other data-extracting apps will be kept under review.
Restricting the use of TikTok on Government devices is a prudent and proportionate step following advice from our cyber security experts.
This ban does not apply to the personal devices of those working in government. There are also exemptions on government devices when TikTok needs to be used for work - some departments have official accounts, for instance.
The US and European Commission are amongst those who have already taken similar action. The simple version of why this has all come about is that there are fears that parent company ByteDance, a Chinese firm, may, or has already been forced to, hand over user data to the Chinese government. TikTok contends that this is not the case.
Furthermore, as journalist Chris Stokel-Walker, who has written a book on TikTok*, not unreasonably pointed out, fears over links with the Chinese state have always been an issue, so what has changed these last few months?
I have some sympathy for the concerns being raised by government officials and others. But Stokel-Walker also has a point. Perhaps what has prompted the change is that instead of being seen as a silly app where teenagers do dances, politicians have wisened up to the fact that TikTok is now a crucial communications tool and feel the potential consequences of ByteDance’s ownership now matter. Or maybe, as usual, officials are years behind when it comes to tech regulation…
Some creators on the platform are getting concerned about a potential ban. I have previously thought that politicians have no real intention of shutting down the hugely popular app for “regular users”, even though that arguably only adds to the inconsistency of their position. Indeed, Michelle Donelan, Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology said:
Because we have the strongest data protection laws in the world, we are confident that the public can continue to use [TikTok].
However, there is now talk in the US about a more general ban, The Wall Street Journal reported, if ByteDance does not sell its shares in TikTok.
TikTok has put up $1.5 billion to address concerns over US user data. This data is stored in the US and Singapore, as opposed to China, and European user data is set to be in new European data centres. Furthermore, 60% of ByteDance shares are owned by investors from around the world, with the remaining 40% split evenly between employees and the company’s Chinese founders.
Despite all this, there remain concerns that the company could not resist requests from the authorities in China.
A TikTok spokesperson told The Addition.
We are disappointed with this decision. We believe these bans have been based on fundamental misconceptions and driven by wider geopolitics, in which TikTok, and our millions of users in the UK, play no part. We remain committed to working with the government to address any concerns but should be judged on facts and treated equally to our competitors. We have begun implementing a comprehensive plan to further protect our European user data, which includes storing UK user data in our European data centres and tightening data access controls, including third-party independent oversight of our approach.
Critics will continue to insist that, whatever the company says, it would have to comply with requests from China. However, the bans seem to be as much about politics as they are about information security. The TikTok cold war has only just begun.
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