The morning of Friday came as a huge shock to the Chinese entertainment app, TikTok as France announced a permanent ban on the app. TikTok will no longer be accessible on employees smartphones and apps similar to TikTok might also be banned in future.
TikTok has been banned before in Asian and European countries as well and some of these countries decided to unban the platform while other felt more comfortable keeping it away from general public's access. Following these bans, France has now decided to ban TikTok on smartphones of public servants. Basically not just TikTok but other similar recreational apps as well.
The reason shared regarding this ban is cybersecurity. As per the claims of the Ministry of France, most recreational apps lack a strong security system and can be a potential threat to the privacy and security of users. Furthermore, such apps are likely to have a weak data protection system which could lead to data theft in case a hacker gets access of the smartphone.
Due to the reasons mentioned above, France decided to ban recreational apps on official worker phones. Well, it kind of makes sense for the sake of security and professionalism but we're not quite sure how long-term this ban will turn out to be.
Initially when this news came out, there were speculations on the internet that this move is a crackdown against the Chinese platform. However, these turned out to be false speculations as officials at the ministry have hinted towards banning of apps in other categories as well. Apps like Netflix and even candy crush might soon be banned on public employee smartphones!
TikTok, on the other hand, has never hinted on using spying tactics or collecting data without consent. The people in Europe think otherwise. This is not an official statement but a general opinion that officials in the ministry might be afraid of the possibility that the Chinese government can get access to sensitive European data through apps like TikTok.
What's your take on this? Is France doing the right thing by banning TikTok on official worker smartphones or is it just another aggressive move? Tell us what you think in the comments section below!