The European Commission recently issued a directive requesting that every EC employee delete TikTok from their corporate devices. This suspension has even applied to the personal devices workers use for their work activities.

In a statement released today, the commission explained the security grounds on which it reached the decision. But still, it had something about keeping rival social networks in surveillance. "This measure aims to protect the Commission against cybersecurity threats and actions which may be exploited for cyber-attacks against the corporate environment of the Commission," it said. "The security developments of other social media platforms will also be kept under constant review.".

Data problems
The EU executive has now joined the growing list of government institutions to ban the popular social video app TikTok developed by China's tech giant ByteDance. The app has over 1 billion users globally and dethroned YouTube as the favorite social platform for kids and teenagers. In retaliation, the UK Parliament created its first-ever TikTok account last year. The product swiftly closed down after data, possibly passed on to the Chinese government by ByteDance, became the centre of concerns raised among politicians.

The United States House of Representatives recently commanded all employees to delete the TikTok application from government devices for use. Several universities took initiatives independently, banning the TikTok app in campus Wi-Fi connections through executive orders imposed by governors of states concerned, not to allow agencies located there to use it.

Meanwhile, India completely banned TikTok among dozens of China-developed apps back in 2020.

While there is scant evidence to suggest that TikTok will be banned nationally in the U.S. or in any European market anytime soon, the social network has faced increasing scrutiny over data safety, disinformation and its compliance-or not-with Europe's upcoming Digital Services Act (DSA), rules designed to bring greater accountability and transparency to online platforms.

As a response, TikTok has launched a comprehensive PR charm offensive, also investing in infrastructure that would see it open its first local data centers for European users' data-the first of which was scheduled to open last year but had been delayed to sometime in 2023. The company recently announced plans for an additional two data centers in the region.

A company spokesperson reacted to today's announcement by saying that it was "disappointed" by the EC's decision and believed it to be "misguided and based on fundamental misconceptions.".

"We have communicated with the Commission to clarify these inaccuracies and to detail precisely how we protect the data of the 125 million people in the EU who visit TikTok every month," a spokesperson said. "We are continuing to enhance our data security practices, for example, by building three data centers in Europe to store user data within the region; reducing access to data for employees; and limiting data exports out of Europe to the minimum extent possible.".

However, with the EC's 30,000-plus headcount now banned from using TikTok on official devices, it's more than conceivable that such bans will permeate through to constituent EU countries too. Indeed, public bodies in the Netherlands were recently advised to steer clear of TikTok, stopping short of an official mandate. And back in December, French President Emmanuel Macron slammed TikTok over alleged content censoring and its adverse psychological impact on young people.