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Scan Life Posted on 2025-01-18 17:32:00

Which countries have banned TikTok and why?!

From Edel Strazimiri

Which countries have banned TikTok and why?!

While the United States is likely to become the first country to completely ban TikTok, many others are concerned about the platform's ties to China. The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday upheld a law that would ban the social media app TikTok over national security concerns unless it is sold by its Chinese owners, ByteDance.

The law was passed by both sides of the US political divide in April last year but has been mired in legal wrangling for the past 10 months. It now seems likely that the ban will take effect on Sunday, President Joe Biden's last full day in office before Donald Trump takes office for a second term on Monday. The US would become the first country to ban the platform entirely, but several countries have moved quickly to ban it on government devices by 2023, fearing that sensitive information could be exposed when the app is downloaded.

Why is TikTok under fire?

TikTok disputes accusations that it collects more user data than other social media companies and has called the bans “baseless misinformation,” saying they were imposed without “discussion or evidence.” TikTok is owned by Chinese technology company Bytedance, but it insists it is run independently and does not share data with the Chinese government. However, many countries remain wary of the platform and its ties to China.

Western tech companies, including Airbnb, Yahoo and LinkedIn, have also been moving out of China or scaling back operations there due to Beijing's strict privacy law, which specifies how companies can collect and store data. Here are the countries and regions that have announced or already implemented partial or total bans on the app.

Albania

While the US will become the first to ban the platform, Albania issued a one-year ban on TikTok at the end of 2024. The shutdown is not based on security concerns or the company's ties to Chinese authorities, but more on domestic issues with violence.

In December, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said the social media site would be blocked by early 2025, blaming the platform for increasing incidents of violence and bullying among young people. He told a town hall meeting that TikTok "will be completely closed for everyone. There will be no TikTok in the Republic of Albania." The move has angered users of the app in the country.

Australia

On April 4, 2023, Australia banned TikTok from all federal government-owned devices over security concerns. A notice issued by the Attorney-General's Department said TikTok poses security and privacy risks due to "the extensive collection of user data and exposure to extrajudicial direction by a foreign government that is contrary to Australian law." Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said in a statement that based on advice from intelligence and security agencies, the ban would come into effect "as soon as practicable."

Estonia

In late March 2023, Estonia's outgoing IT and foreign trade minister, Kristjan Järvan, told a local newspaper that TikTok would be banned from state-issued smartphones for public officials. However, speaking to Eesti Päevaleht, the minister added: "If a public official uses his private phone during work, we really won't look into it."

The uproar surrounding last year's Romanian presidential election and concerns that TikTok was manipulated to give an advantage to the relatively unknown far-right candidate Călin Georgescu worried officials across the European Union, but as of December, the Estonian government made it clear that it had no plans for a ban.

United Kingdom

On March 16, 2023, Oliver Dowden, the UK Secretary of State for the Cabinet Office, announced in a statement to the UK House of Commons an immediate ban on the app on official government devices. “This is a precautionary measure. We know there is already limited use of TikTok across government, but it is also good cyber hygiene,” the minister said in his speech to MPs.

The ban is based on a report by the UK's National Cyber ​​Security Centre, which found that "there may be a risk around the way sensitive government data is accessed and used by certain platforms". Although the UK was one of the first countries to ban the use of other Chinese-owned technologies, such as that of Huawei, critics cited the delay in banning TikTok compared to allies.

EU institutions

The European Parliament, the European Commission and the Council of the EU, the three main EU bodies, have all banned TikTok from staff devices, citing cybersecurity concerns. The European Parliament's ban came into effect on March 20, 2023. It also "strongly recommended" that members of parliament and staff remove the app from their personal devices as well.

United States

On March 13 of last year, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill requiring TikTok's Beijing-based parent company to leave the platform or face a nationwide ban. The effort, which was previously blocked by the Senate over free speech concerns, was approved on April 24 as part of a larger package.

Congress sent the bill to President Joe Biden, who said he would sign it into law. "Congress is acting to prevent foreign adversaries from conducting espionage, surveillance, and malicious operations that harm vulnerable Americans, our servicemen and women, and our U.S. government personnel," said Senate Commerce Committee Chairwoman Maria Cantwell.

The law eventually found its way before the U.S. Supreme Court justices, who unanimously upheld the ban on Jan. 17 on national security grounds. More than half of the 50 U.S. states have already banned TikTok from government devices over data security concerns, with the U.S. government giving agencies until the end of March to remove the app from federal devices and systems.

Both the FBI and the Federal Communications Commission have warned that ByteDance could share TikTok user data with China’s authoritarian government. There is also concern about TikTok’s content and whether it harms the mental health of teens. Researchers from the nonprofit Center to Counter Digital Hate said in a report in December that eating disorder content on the platform had amassed 13.2 billion views. About two-thirds of American teenagers use TikTok, according to the Pew Research Center, and the app boasts 170 million users nationwide.

Canada

On November 6, the Canadian federal government ordered TikTok to cease its operations in the country due to concerns about foreign interference. Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne told state media that the decision to close TikTok's two offices in Toronto and Vancouver came on the advice of Canadian security and intelligence experts.

Canadians can still access TikTok and create content there, but Champagne advised that people do so knowing that their user data could be collected by the Chinese government. In February, the government banned TikTok from all government-issued devices, saying the app posed an “unacceptable” risk to privacy and security. Employees are also blocked from downloading the app in the future.

“I suspect that as the government takes the important step of telling all federal employees that they can no longer use TikTok on their work phones, many Canadians from businesses to private individuals will reflect on the security of their data and perhaps make choices,” Trudeau said. . “I’m always a fan of giving Canadians information so they can make the decisions that are right for them,” he added.

New Zealand

New Zealand announced that TikTok will be banned from the phones of government lawmakers by the end of March 2023. Unlike other countries such as the UK, the ban does not affect all government employees and only applies to about 500 people in the parliamentary complex. The Chief Executive of the Parliamentary Service Rafael Gonzalez-Montero said that officials could make special arrangements if they needed TikTok to carry out their democratic duties.

New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said he didn't have TikTok on his phone and added, "I'm not that hip and trendy." As the January 19 deadline for the US ban approaches, New Zealand's Home Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden stressed that the country had no plans to ban the platform. "While we are keeping a close eye on developments in other jurisdictions, our government has no current plans to ban TikTok in New Zealand," he told local media.

INDIA

In 2020, India imposed a ban on TikTok and dozens of other Chinese apps, including messaging app WeChat, over privacy and security concerns. The ban came shortly after a clash between Indian and Chinese troops on a disputed Himalayan border killed 20 Indian soldiers and injured dozens. The companies were given a chance to respond to questions about privacy and security claims, but the ban became permanent in January 2021.

Taiwan

In December 2022, Taiwan imposed a public sector ban on TikTok after the FBI warned that TikTok posed a national security risk. Government devices, including mobile phones, tablets and desktop computers, are not allowed to use software made in China, including apps like TikTok, its Chinese equivalent Douyin, or Xiaohongshu, a Chinese lifestyle content app. Xiaohongshu, also known as RedNote, has seen a huge influx of users as TikTokers moved away from the platform as the US ban loomed.

Pakistan

Pakistani authorities have temporarily banned TikTok at least four times since October 2020, citing concerns that the app promotes immoral content.

Afghanistan

Afghanistan's Taliban leadership banned TikTok and the game PUBG in 2022 on the grounds of protecting young people from "deception."

 

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