The European Commission has banned staff from using the Chinese social media app TikTok over security concerns, in the latest example of growing strains between Beijing and the West.
Western governments are increasingly alarmed by evidence that Chinese technology companies assist the Communist Party and its intelligence services in gathering vast amounts of data all over the world — with a particular focus on high-value political and security targets.
A senior official told POLITICO that all staff were ordered on Thursday morning to remove TikTok from their official devices and that they must also remove the app from their personal devices if they have any work-related apps installed.
Alternatively, the staff members can delete work-related apps from their personal phones if they insist on keeping TikTok.
The Commission has a “bring your own device” policy that senior officials describe as “horrible” from a security perspective.