France is banning TikTok (and Candy Crush) from government smartphones not just out of fear of the Chinese government.
Unsurprisingly, another country has decided today to ban TikTok from its government smartphones, but France is taking its restrictions one step further. Le Monde reports that the French government has also decided to ban a number of entertainment apps such as Twitter, Netflix and even Candy Crush. According to Stanislas Guerini, France’s Minister of Transformation and Civil Service, these apps will pose cybersecurity risks that could compromise both employee and administration data.
France bans TikTok (and Candy Crush) on government smartphones
The government has not released an exhaustive list of banned apps, but Stanislas Guerini explained that there may be certain exemptions to allow certain vital communications. In other words, it won’t stop, for example, a social media team from publishing content. This ban takes effect immediately, but sanctions for those who violate this decision can be determined “at the level of various officials,”the ministry’s staff said. And this decision does not apply to personal devices.
The move comes after the US federal government, dozens of states, Canada, the European Commission and the UK banned TikTok from their employees’ devices. And each time, the reasons are the same: the authorities fear that the Chinese government may be collecting data on important figures, spreading propaganda, and forcing ByteDance (TikTok’s parent company) to disclose confidential information.
not only out of fear of the Chinese government
Tiktok has repeatedly denied direct or indirect cooperation with the Chinese government. During his recent House of Representatives hearing, CEO Shou Chu stated that ByteDance is “not a Chinese agent”and that US user data will not be available to employees in other countries when the migration project is completed in a few months.
However, the measure taken by France does not target a specific country or category of applications. This reflects broader concerns that entertainment apps in general could pose a threat to government data. Too bad for employees who like to watch Netflix at lunchtime, but it should appease authorities who fear they might inadvertently reveal sensitive information through their social accounts.