Citing Security Concerns, UK Bans TikTok From All Government Devices

The United Kingdom has banned TikTok, a video-sharing social media application, from all government-owned phones with immediate effect, over security threats.

The cabinet office ministers, following a security review introduced the ban on Thursday.

According to the cabinet office, the review looked at the potential vulnerability of government data from social media apps on devices and risks around how sensitive information could be accessed and used by some platforms.

Oliver Dowden, the secretary of state in the cabinet office, told the house of commons that the ban was a “precautionary move.”

Dowden said the decision is in line with similar restrictions brought in by key international partners, including the US and Canadian governments, and the European Commission.

He said the ban does not include personal devices and there would be limited exemptions where TikTok is required on government devices for operational reasons.

“The security of sensitive government information must come first, so today we are banning this app on government devices. The use of other data-extracting apps will be kept under review,” Dowden said.

“Restricting the use of TikTok on government devices is a prudent and proportionate step following advice from our cyber security experts.”

Dowden, also the chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, said the ban applies to government corporate devices within all government departments.

He added that government devices would only be able to access third-party apps from a pre-approved list.