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UK to ban TikTok from government-issued phones in latest spat with Beijing

  • Cabinet Office minister Oliver Dowden announces the bar in address to Parliament address on Thursday
  • The proposed bar comes as US has threatened TikTok ban if ByteDance does not divest stake

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TikTok’s logo on a smartphone in front of the British parliament in London. Photo: EPA-EFE
Chad Brayin London
The British government has banned the use of the Chinese social media app TikTok from government-issued phones, further escalating tensions between Beijing and London.
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Cabinet Office minister Oliver Dowden said the app would be banned with “immediate effect” from government phones in ministerial and non-ministerial departments. The order also prohibits government workers from downloading apps that are not preapproved on devices issued to them.

The ban would not apply to personal devices of government staff, nor to the general public, he said.

“This is a precautionary move,” Dowden said. “We know there is already limited use of TikTok across government, but it is good cyber hygiene.”

“Given the particular risk around government devices, which may contain sensitive information, it is both prudent and proportionate to restrict the use of certain apps, particularly when it comes to apps where a large amount of data can be stored and accessed,” he added.

02:41

US orders TikTok be removed from all government devices within 30 days

US orders TikTok be removed from all government devices within 30 days
The ban comes just days after Security Minister Tom Tugendhat confirmed he had asked Britain’s National Security Cyber Centre to investigate the app, which is owned by China’s ByteDance, and follows similar moves by the United States and the European Union.
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