Austria Joins Many Countries Ban TikTok On Government Employee Phones

JAKARTA - Austria will join a list of countries banning video sharing applications owned by Chinese company TikTok from government employee phones. This was said by the Austrian Interior Minister, runk Karner on Wednesday, May 10.

Various Western countries including Britain, the United States, and several EU member states have also banned TikTok for security reasons. The two largest European Union policy institutions also banned the app in March.

"He will be banned from working phones. On private phones outside the country's network, of course, it is still possible (to use applications)," Karner told reporters before a weekly cabinet meeting when asked if politicians in government could still use the app.

TikTok, which is owned by Chinese company ByteDance, is under scrutiny from governments and regulators due to concerns that the Chinese government could use the app to collect user data or advance its interests.