Rows Of Countries Block TikTok For Security Reasons, The Number Is Increasing!

Illustration of TikTok (Photo: Unsplash)

YOGYAKARTA The number of countries blocking TikTok continues to grow. Most recently, there is England which prohibits the installation of this application on government mobile devices.

The short video platform made by Bytedance was banned by the British government because it was considered a potential national security threat.

"Prelimining the security of sensitive information, the government should be a top priority, so today we ban this application on government devices. The use of other applications that extract data will continue to be reviewed," said UK Cabinet Office Minister (Secretary) Oliver Dowden, in a statement on Thursday, March 16, 2023, quoted by Reuters.

Apart from the UK, which countries prohibit the installation of the TikTok app on mobile devices?

Summarized from various sources, Friday, March 17, 2023, the following is a list of countries that block TikTok for security reasons.

At the end of February, the United States government decided to ban the TikTok platform from federal levels. Thus, the application must be removed from all government-owned devices.

The ban on installing the TikTik app aims to protect users' confidential data.

According to a Reuters report, the ban stems from warnings from US intelligence agencies, the FBI said the Chinese government could use the TikTok app to collect millions of user data in the country.

Apart from America, Canada also prohibits the use of the TikTok app at the federal level. This policy prevents government employees from installing this app on their mobile devices.

The Prime Minister of Kadana, Justin Trudeau, said that his party would continue to monitor the short video platform from China.

"This may be the only step we need to take, but every step we will make sure that we keep Canadians safe," Trudeau said, guided by Anadolu Agency.

The EU also banned the use of TikTok at the federal level. In The Guardian's report, the agency's staff have been notified to remove TikTok from their apps.

The reason for banning TikTok in the European Union is almost the same as the US, Canada, and the UK. They are worried that this application can gather sensitive information about employees and ultimately provide it to Chinese government or intelligence services.

Originally, India had banned the installation of the TikTok app on mobile devices in 2020.

A total of 59 applications, including TikTok and WeChat, were banned in India due to national security issues.

This policy was implemented because of the large number of complaints related to the TikTok application which claimed to steal and send user data in an illegal way. This ban is a major blow to Bytedance, as the number of active TikTok users in India reaches 200 million people.

The Iranian government has also banned the installation of the TikTok application on mobile phones or devices.

This policy was made because TikTok is against the laws in force in Iran. Please note, Iran is a country that has strict social media-related rules.

Before banning TikTok, this country had already banned Facebook, Twitter, and Telegram.

Afghanistan banned TikTok in April 2021. According to the Taliban, TikTok has had a negative impact on Afghanistan's young generation. In addition, the application is considered inconsistent with applicable Islamic law

The 7th country to block Tiktok at the federal level is Belgium. They are concerned about cybersecurity, privacy, and misinformation.

Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo said via his official website that the TikTok app would temporarily be banned from devices owned or paid by the Belgian federal government.

De Croo added that the Belgian national security board had warned about the risks associated with the large amount of data collected by TikTok, and the facts in which the company was required to cooperate with China's intelligence services.

"That's the reality, (and) why it makes sense to ban the use of TikTok on phones provided by the federal government. Our information security must be prioritized," said de Croo.

That's information about a row of countries that block TikTok for security reasons. Read on VOI.ID to get other interesting news.