The BBC has advised its staff to remove TikTok from work phones, the British audiovisual giant said Monday, following in the footsteps of several Western institutions suspicious of the Chinese social network.
The BBC reports in an article posted on its site that staff received an email on Sunday in which the group said they “do not recommend installing TikTok on a BBC company device, unless there is a justified business reason.” .
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These new instructions come as the UK already banned TikTok on government devices last week, following in the footsteps of Washington or the European Commission, which have implemented similar bans. “The BBC takes the security of its systems, data and staff very seriously. We are constantly reviewing activity on third-party platforms, including TikTok, and will continue to do so,” a spokesperson for the BBC band said.
TikTok, whose parent company ByteDance is Chinese, has come under increasing scrutiny from Westerners fearing that Beijing could access user data around the world.
TikTok acknowledged in November that some employees in China could access European user data and admitted in December that employees had used that data to harass journalists. But the group fiercely denies any Chinese government control or access to its data.
Source: BFM TV
