The United States is about to introduce a ban on TikTok, but in the meantime the European Commission is considering the same. Will TikTok soon be banned here too?
TikTok ban in US
There has been discussion in the United States for some time whether or not TikTok should be banned. The popular app falls under the Chinese company ByteDance, which raises major concerns about TikTok’s privacy. There is a fear that user data will be misused by the Chinese government. These concerns are now so serious that a ban on TikTok in the United States is threatened if ByteDance does not sell the app to an American company.
Also read: TikTok may have to be banned (but why?)
President Biden has signed a law that gives ByteDance nine months to transfer TikTok to a company in the United States. In this way, the user data must be protected. The Chinese government should also have less power in the United States. Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, has now said that the same measures are being considered in Europe.
EU is considering the same measures
Ursula von der Leyen was asked by journalists at a debate in Maastricht how she views the ban on TikTok. In response, she indicated that such measures have not been ruled out in Europe. She also indicated that the European Commission is aware of the dangers of the app. So it seems that European politicians view TikTok in the same way as in the United States.
This is not very surprising, because there are currently several investigations into TikTok in Europe. It will be assessed, among other things, whether a paid function of the app contributes to TikTok addiction among children. The European Commission is therefore already busy with possible violations of TikTok. Once these have been established, it is quite possible that a ban on TikTok in the European Union will follow.
The ban already applies to the European Commission
Ursula von der Leyen also emphasized that the European Commission was the first institution worldwide to ban TikTok on work phones. There is also a similar ban on TikTok in the Netherlands. Dutch civil servants are no longer allowed to install the app on their work phone. New government work phones are set up in such a way that TikTok can no longer be installed or visited via the website by civil servants.
Also read: TikTok and China: should you actually delete the app?
There is therefore a good chance that the European Commission will follow the United States in banning TikTok. Here too, ByteDance will probably be obliged to sell the app. It remains to be seen whether ByteDance will sell the app in the United States to an American company, or whether it will take other measures. In any case, the next nine months will determine the future of TikTok, in both the United States and the European Union.
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