PARIS, France (AFP)— France on Friday banned public-sector employees from downloading "recreational applications" on their work phones, the public services ministry said, with a ministerial source adding that Chinese-owned TikTok would be among them.
Following bans of TikTok in other European countries, "the government has decided from now on to ban the downloading and installation of recreational applications on professional telephones given to public servants," the ministry said.
"Recreational applications do not present sufficient levels of cybersecurity and data protection to be deployed on administrative equipment," it said.
A source at the ministry said the ban would include "game apps like Candy Crush, streaming apps like Netflix and recreational apps like TikTok".
TikTok is hugely popular worldwide for sharing short, viral videos.
But the European Commission as well as governments in the Netherlands, Britain, the United States, Canada and New Zealand have told officials they cannot use the mobile phone app on work devices over fears of ties to the communist government in Beijing.
The group has insisted that the Chinese government has no control over or access to its data.
But the firm acknowledged in November that some employees in China could access European user data, and in December it said that employees had used the data to spy on journalists.
Beijing said Friday that it did not ask companies to hand over data gathered overseas.
China "has never and will not require companies or individuals to collect or provide data located in a foreign country, in a way that violates local law", foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said.
HOUSE RULES
- We welcome reader comments on the top stories of the day. Some comments may be republished on the website or in the newspaper; email addresses will not be published.
- Please understand that comments are moderated and it is not always possible to publish all that have been submitted. We will, however, try to publish comments that are representative of all received.
- We ask that comments are civil and free of libellous or hateful material. Also please stick to the topic under discussion.
- Please do not write in block capitals since this makes your comment hard to read.
- Please don't use the comments to advertise. However, our advertising department can be more than accommodating if emailed: advertising@jamaicaobserver.com.
- If readers wish to report offensive comments, suggest a correction or share a story then please email: community@jamaicaobserver.com.
- Lastly, read our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy