On Thursday, the European Commission published a blog post announcing that it has banned the use of TikTok, a popular video-sharing platform, on its corporate and personal devices enrolled in the Commission’s mobile device service. The new measures aim to protect the Commission agains the cybersecurity threats posed by the application. The Commission stated that the move is in line with its other strict internal cybersecurity policies for the use of mobile devices for work related activities and communications.
The Commission also confirmed that it would be reviewing the security developments of other social media platforms that may pose a threat to its security. A spokesperson for the Commission stated that the entity is tasked with responding as early as possible to potential cyber risks. The announcement comes just months after TikTok confirmed that a select number of employees residing outside of Europe could access data belonging to European users. Shortly after the announcement, TikTok and its parent company ByteDance condemned the move.