TikTok fans have slammed plans to ban the Chinese-owned app. Security minister Tom Tugendhat said today (March 14) he is awaiting a review from the National Cyber Security Centre before deciding on the “hugely important question”.
Rishi Sunak has also hinted that Britain could follow the US and the EU by banning the social media app from Government phones and devices. The Prime Minister said the UK will “look at what our allies are doing”, with Washington and the European Commission having banned TikTok on staff phones.
But Mr Tugendhat is proposing a a fully-fledged ban on the app. He told Times Radio: “I don’t have it, and the Prime Minister asked me to defend the leading democracy taskforce a little while ago, and as part of that we’re looking at the various threats to parliamentarians but also to journalists.
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“Looking at the various different apps people have on their phones and the implications for them is a hugely important question and I’ve asked the National Cyber Security Centre to look into this.”
Pressed whether this means there could be a full ban on the app, he said: “It will be addressed with the challenges we face, with the threats we face. I’m not going to give you an answer until I know what the risks are.”
But fans of the app - which is the fastest growing social media - have slammed the news.
One person tweeted: "I feel like they wanna ban Tiktok because it’s the number one app that truly kinda brings people together. That algorithm is UNMATCHED. It’s almost unreal."
Another said: "Sure, I see why you would want to ban Tiktok, the place where the young generation is learning about this."
Someone else said Tiktok has been helping campaigners in Iran. She said: "Stop the TikTok ban on personal devices so Goldie Ghamari can continue her fight for Iran - Sign the Petition."
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