Taiwan, which is in a sovereignty dispute with China, has banned the use of Chinese social media platform TikTok and other mainland social media applications on phones allocated by public institutions and in government offices.
According to Taiwan news agency CNA, Ministry of Digital Affairs officials announced restrictions on the use of some applications on the grounds that they pose a threat to national information security.
Bytedance’s TikTok, its Chinese version Douyin, and Xingin’s Instagram-like social media and e-commerce platform Xiaohongshu were among the applications that were imposed.
It was reported that the measure was taken within the scope of the ban on all software developed in mainland China with the amendment made in October to the Regulation on Principles for Restricting the Use of Products Harmful to Information Security in Government-Owned Institutions.
In the US, the states of Texas, Maryland, South Carolina and South Dakota banned the use of TikTok on phones allocated by the state government and in government offices, citing cyber security threats.
US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Chris Wray stated last week that the Chinese government is in control of the social media platform Tiktok and that this raises national security concerns for the US.
TikTok, which has 85 million users in the US, is in talks with the US government over concerns about data security.
The state of Indiana sued the company for misinforming the public about the Chinese government’s access to user data and exposing young users to adult content.
