On Wednesday, Austria’s Interior Minister Gerhard Karner announced the prohibition of the Chinese-owned video-sharing app TikTok on work mobile phones within government offices. However, government politicians and employees can still utilize the app on their personal devices outside the state network.
Austria now joins a growing list of Western nations that have banned TikTok due to security concerns. Countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, France, Belgium, and Australia have already implemented similar bans. Major European Union institutions, including the European Parliament, European Commission, and EU Council, have also prohibited TikTok’s usage.
Scrutiny of TikTok arises from concerns about its extensive data collection, with worries that ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok, may be obliged to surrender that data to the Chinese government under Chinese law.
In March, TikTok CEO Shou Chew appeared before US lawmakers in Washington DC to address concerns and assure officials that the app’s data collection practices do not violate the privacy of American users. However, lawmakers maintained skepticism and have been discussing potential legislation for a nationwide ban on TikTok. They cite national security threats and apprehensions about Chinese manipulation and propaganda dissemination.
At that time, TikTok boasted a significant increase in its active monthly users in the US, reaching over 150 million, compared to 2020. Apart from the federal devices ban, numerous US state governments have also prohibited TikTok’s usage among their employees.
TikTok consistently denies allegations of sharing data with the Chinese government and emphasizes its investment of over $1.5 billion in robust data security measures to address concerns raised by the US.
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