The European Commission has banned the use of the TikTok application on corporate and personal devices registered with the European Commission’s mobile device service.
according to blog post The move, announced by the commission on Thursday, aims to protect the commission from cybersecurity threats.
“This action is in line with the Commission’s strict internal cybersecurity policy for using mobile devices for work-related communications,” reads the article.
“This complements the committee’s longstanding advice requiring staff to apply best practices when using social media platforms and maintain a high level of cyber awareness in their day-to-day work.”
The committee also said it would continue to consider security developments for other social media platforms.
“The Commission is committed to adequately protecting staff from increasing cyber threats and incidents,” it wrote. Sonya Gospodinovaa spokesperson for the committee, on Twitter Thursday.
“It is therefore our duty to respond to potential cyber alerts as quickly as possible.”
Gospodinova and the EU Commission’s chief spokesman, Eric Mamer, stressed the rationale behind the decision, saying the ban was “temporary” and subject to “constant review and re-evaluation.” There is,” he added.
The move comes months after TikTok confirmed some off-continental employees have access to the data of European users.
Despite the approval, the company condemned the ban on Thursday.
“We have not been given any explanations, no one has set a process,” wrote TikTok’s VP of European Public Policy Theo Bertram on Twitter.
“We want to understand if there are any specific concerns and give them a chance to address them before the suspension begins on March 15.”
The ban comes at the beginning of a tumultuous year for TikTok. fined €5 million ($5.4 million) It was accused in January by the French data protection regulator of not providing users with sufficient information about cookie collection.
