(CelebrityAccess) — The European Commission and Canada’s federal government have both joined the U.S. in banning the use of the short form video sharing application TikTok from devices used by officials.
In Europe, the Commission announced the decision to suspend the use of the TikTok application on both official mobile devices, as well as personal devices that use the Commission mobile device service.
According to the European Commission, the ban is intended to protect against cybersecurity threats and actions which may be exploited for cyber-attacks against the organazation’s network infrastructure.
Canada also moved to block the use of TikTok on all government-issued mobile devices. In an email sent to Global Affairs employees obtained by the CBC, said that a review found that TikTok’s data collection methods could lead to cyber attacks.
“The Government of Canada continuously works to ensure the cyber security of our networks by identifying threats and vulnerabilities, including those on social media platforms,” the email said, according to the CBC.
“The government will continue to monitor the situation and will work with partners to keep the information on our systems and networks secure.”
TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese company Bytedance, denied that there is a risk and described the suspensions as a mistake.
“We believe this suspension is misguided and based on fundamental misconceptions,” TikTok said in a statement to the New York Times.
