Banned by a series of countries, the TikTok “empire” is about to collapse globally?

Those concerns relate largely to security and privacy. Opponents argue that TikTok is using access to people’s phones to collect personal information about them.

TikTok itself has always denied that user data is not protected or considered it a data collection activity.

But that hasn’t stopped organizations including the US government and the European Commission from banning the app. Both ban employees from installing, warning that the app could put users’ data – and the safety of citizens – at risk.

What are the concerns about TikTok?

Last year, commentator Joe Rogan made a splash on his podcast, reading through the app’s terms and conditions.

He noted that TikTok’s rules allow the app to ” get a handle on the device you use to access the platform ,” including which phone is being used to access TikTok and from where.

He points out that the amount of data collected is enormous, although almost all popular social media apps have very extensive terms and conditions that allow them to collect data.

TikTok is owned by Chinese company Bytedance. Many people believe that this application is being criticized in part because the West is afraid that TikTok could grow bigger than rivals like Instagram and Twitter.

Where has the app been banned?

Bans have recently been put in place across the US and Europe. Last year, the federal government in the US banned the app on government-issued devices, and most states have followed suit. Then, this week, the European Commission did the same.

In other places may not prohibit, but discourage the use of the application. The Dutch government is reportedly advising officials not to use the app, and some British politicians have expressed similar concerns.

All of them cited security concerns. Most bans have been justified not by existing security issues, but by underlying problems.

The European Commission said the ban was implemented ” to protect the Commission against cyber threats and actions that could be exploited to attack the corporate environment “.

Is a total ban possible?

For now, at least, in the US and Europe, the new ban applies only to people working for governments and other political bodies – not yet extending beyond that. But a complete ban is possible.

For example, former President Donald Trump seems keen to ban the app as his term ends in 2020.

Ultimately, the app continued to work, and legal proceedings ended when Donald Trump left office in early 2021. This is the first time the app has come so close to being outlawed in the US. .

In fact, in other places like India, the government banned the app outright in 2020. Following the conflict between India and China over disputed territory, the government banned TikTok and 58 apps entirely. made by China.

Until now, TikTok is still banned here. And this country has found alternatives. Instagram Reels was launched in India and became very popular, replacing TikTok.

What does TikTok say?

The company has repeatedly denied that TikTok’s way of collecting user data differs from those of other apps.

For example, when the European Commission’s ban was announced, the company said it was “disappointed with this decision, which we believe is erroneous and based on fundamental misconceptions”.

“We’ve contacted the Commission to profile and explain how we protect the data of the 125 million people across the EU who access TikTok each month. We’re continuing to improve our approach to with data security, including the establishment of three data centers in Europe to store user data locally; further reducing employee access to data; and minimizing data flows whether outside of Europe “.

In a blog post published a week ago, Rich Waterworth, general manager of TikTok’s European operations, said the company will work to ” keep the European community and data safe.” , security, especially in the context of new regulations “.