The European Commission prohibits the installation of the TikTok application on all the professional devices of its staff in order to protect the institution's data and strengthen its cybersecurity, announced Thursday February 23 one of its spokespersons, confirming information from the Euractiv website. Officials and employees of the EU executive have been asked to uninstall the app from their work devices by March 15 at the latest. It is "an internal decision of the Commission", which does not apply to EU institutions or those of the member states, it is specified.
The EU executive has also asked its employees to uninstall TikTok from their personal devices, including phones, when official apps are installed on them, including email and video conferencing apps.
Similar measures will be taken by the European Council, the body of the Member States headed by Charles Michel, his spokesperson said in the process.
Brussels is following in Washington's footsteps. In the United States, a law ratified by President Joe Biden in early January prohibits the downloading and use of TikTok on the devices of US federal state officials. Twenty states have taken a similar measure for their own employees. Some lawmakers in Congress are trying to ban TikTok altogether from operating in the United States, accusing it of being a tool of espionage and propaganda in the service of China.