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Finbarr Bermingham

European Union governing bodies banned staff from using TikTok on their work devices, citing concerns around data and cybersecurity.
The European Commission and Council both outlawed the social media app, which has come under pressure in Europe and the United States in recent months.
Commission staff were emailed instructions on Thursday saying the Chinese-owned social media app must be uninstalled from all corporate devices by March 15.
If employees wish to continue using Commission apps on their own mobile devices, they must remove TikTok from those too. If they do not comply, they will not be able to access their work emails, or other EU-specific apps on their personal phones.


It marks the first time ever that staff have been told to remove an app from their devices.
“I can confirm that the Commission required all colleagues with the app installed on corporate devices and personal devices enrolled in the Commission mobile device service to uninstall the app,” said Sonya Gospodinova, a digital spokeswoman for the Commission.
Gospodinova said the ban was a “temporary measure” and would be “constantly under review”. However, she would not divulge under what conditions it could be lifted, nor whether there was new intelligence that sparked the decision.
The Commission – the EU’s de facto civil service – employs 32,000 people, many of them in Brussels.
Bill to ban TikTok in US reflects growing concerns in Congress over China
Later on Thursday, the Council followed suit. “It will be uninstalling the application on corporate devices and requesting staff to uninstall it from personal mobile devices that have access to corporate services,” an EU official said.
The Council is a legislating body made up of representatives from each of the EU’s 27 member states. The secretariat employs 3,108 people, according to its website.
“The European Commission’s suspension of TikTok on corporate devices is misguided and based on fundamental misconceptions,” said Caroline Greer, the app’s director of public policy and government relations in Brussels. “We have requested a meeting to set the record straight.”
While the wildly popular app has run into significant problems in the United States – where the incoming chairman of a new congressional select committee on China, Mike Gallagher, described it as “digital fentanyl” because of its “addictive and destructive” nature – it has been increasingly scrutinised in Europe too.
Government officials in the Netherlands were told to avoid TikTok in January, Politico reported, over concerns about privacy.

Last year, TikTok admitted that its European users’ data was accessible outside the bloc, including in China. The Irish Data Protection Authority is investigating the transfer of personal data of European users to China, it announced last year.
The company has tried to reassure users and authorities that personal data and content cannot be accessed or manipulated by the Chinese government.
TikTok, owned by China’s ByteDance, is also facing tough new rules aimed at large social media platforms in the EU later this year.
In January, Thierry Breton, Brussels’ digital policy chief, warned TikTok’s CEO Shou Zi Chew that the app must also come in line with content moderation rules to take effect later in the year.
TikTok lays off all staff in India as Chinese apps face more scrutiny
“With younger audiences comes greater responsibility,” Breton said, according to an EU account of the call.
He told Chew that “it is not acceptable that behind seemingly fun and harmless features, it takes users seconds to access harmful and sometimes even life-threatening content”.
The EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA), which is set to affect the biggest online companies from September, will force platforms to police harmful content and reduce the risks posed to users.
Platforms and search engines with more than 45 million users in the EU will also have to monitor disinformation, amid a broad pushback in the bloc against the dissemination of harmful fake news.
TikTok said earlier this month that it had on average 125 million active monthly users in the EU between August 2022 and January 2023, meaning it will fall within the scope of the DSA.


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China-EU relations

European Commission bans staff from using TikTok on work devices

The Chinese-owned social media app has run into problems in the US and has been increasingly scrutinised in Europe too. Photo: Reuters

Mike Gallagher, incoming chairman of a new US congressional select committee on China, has described TikTok as “digital fentanyl”. Photo: TNS

TikTok owner ByteDance asks employees to declare US tax status with IPO plans still up in the air

Beijing-based ByteDance’s plans for an IPO remains up in the air. Photo: Reuters

A TikTok logo displayed outside the app’s office in Culver City, California. Photo: Getty Images/TNS

TikTok CEO Chew Shou Zi is set testify in the US Congress about the app’s operations next month. Photo: AFP

TikTok owner ByteDance reduces frequency of employee reviews amid firm’s reorganisation efforts and expansion initiatives

Quarterly employee goal-setting and reviews at ByteDance will start in April. Photo: Shutterstock

Beijing-based ByteDance will soon conduct its objective-and-key-results review of employees every three months. Photo: AP

Bill to ban TikTok in US reflects growing concerns in Congress over China

The Rubio-King bill is one of many proposals that have been introduced in the US in recent days to deal with concerns over TikTok. Photo: Reuters

US politician Matt Gaetz calls for Biden to ‘blow up TikTok’

More than 20 US states have banned TikTok on government-owned devices. Photo: AP

US congressman Matt Gaetz. Photo: Getty Images via AFP

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Staff told on Thursday to remove TikTok from all corporate and personal devices that use European Commission applications
Move comes amid greater scrutiny of the Chinese-owned app’s privacy, data-sharing and cybersecurity risks in Europe


Staff told on Thursday to remove TikTok from all corporate and personal devices that use European Commission applications.


China technology

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TikTok ban