France Bans TikTok From Government Devices

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Facts

  • France has banned "recreational" apps such as TikTok on government staff phones, the Ministry of Public Sector Transformation and the Civil Service announced on Friday.1
  • The ban is a result of concerns about insufficient data security measures. French Minister for Transformation and Public Administration Stanislas Guerini says the apps aren't safe enough to be used in state administrative services and could pose a "risk for the protection of data.”2
  • France is part of a growing number of countries to ban TikTok on government devices over security concerns that Chinese parent company ByteDance could give user data to the Chinese government.3
  • Other countries banning TikTok, or moving towards a ban, include the US, the UK, the Netherlands, Belgium, New Zealand, Canada, India, Pakistan, and Taiwan.4
  • A law enacted in 2017 requires Chinese companies to hand over any personal data that could impact the country’s national security, although there's no evidence that TikTok has done so, and Beijing has denied allegations it has accessed user data.1
  • In addition to TikTok, France also banned other recreational apps like Candy Crush, Netflix, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and several dating apps.5

Sources: 1Al Jazeera, 2Associated Press, 3Business Insider, 4Euronews, and 5Deadline.

Narratives

  • Anti-China narrative, as provided by New York Times. TikTok is a major threat to national security for countries around the world. It's owned by a Chinese company that is subject to Chinese laws that could force it to hand over private data. The app could be used as spyware to collect sensitive data about everywhere we go and everything we do. The stakes are enormous, and TikTok is just one small part of the Chinese technological surveillance threat.
  • Pro-China narrative, as provided by Global Times. The suppression and disinformation about TikTok stem from blatant anti-China sentiment. There's no evidence that it presents a national security threat to any country or that there have been any data breaches. The bans go against the concept of having an open, fair, and non-discriminatory environment for foreign businesses. This unjustifiable censorship is hypocritical and anti-democratic. Let the people have their social media videos.