The New Zealand Parliament has announced that the TikTok app will be banned on all MPs’ cell phones, following in the wake of other Western countries that have introduced restrictions on the use of the platform on government devices.
The application, owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, will not be installed on the smartphones of legislators from next month, as »the risks» that the data collected by TikTok will be used by the Chinese government »are not acceptable», said the executive director of the parliamentary service, Rafael González-Montero, in statements reported by the RNZ channel.
»On the advice of our cybersecurity experts, the parliamentary service has informed members and staff that the TikTok application will be removed from all devices with access to the parliamentary network,» detailed Gonzalez-Montero, who announced exceptions for deputies who require the application to perform »democratic functions».
TikTok, of Chinese parent company, has also been banned on government-issued devices in countries such as Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and the United States, all amid cybersecurity concerns.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
