The US Supreme Court on Friday upheld a law banning social media app TikTok due to national security concerns if it is not sold by its Chinese owners, ByteDance.
The ban took effect on Sunday, the last day of President Joe Biden's term, before Donald Trump takes office for his second term on Monday.
Overthrow in the USA
The ban, however, did not last long. In a post on X, TikTok announced that it would restore its service for US users, following Donald Trump's announcement of the executive order. It even thanked the US president-elect and pledged to work with him to find a solution.
In a statement, TikTok said the video platform is coming back online after President-elect Donald Trump provided the necessary assurances to the company's service providers, according to nbcnews.com.
“In agreement with our service providers, TikTok is in the process of restoring service,” it said in a post on X. “We thank President Trump for assuring our service providers that they will not face sanctions, providing TikTok to over 170 million Americans and allowing over 7 million small businesses to thrive,” it continued.
"This is a strong stand in support of the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship. We will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that will keep TikTok in the United States," TikTok concluded in its statement.
Why is TikTok under fire?
TikTok disputes accusations that it collects more user data than other social media companies and called the bans “basic misinformation,” saying they were decided “without discussion or evidence.”
TikTok is owned by Chinese technology company Bytedance, but insists it operates independently and does not share data with the Chinese government.
However, many countries remain wary of the platform and its ties to China, Euronews notes.
Western technology companies, including Airbnb, Yahoo and LinkedIn, have also left China or reduced their operations there due to Beijing's strict privacy law, which regulates how companies can collect and store data.
Below are the countries and regions that have announced or have already implemented some bans on the app.
Αλβανία
Albania has announced a year-long TikTok block at the end of 2024. The shutdown is not based on security concerns or the company's ties to Chinese authorities, but more on domestic issues with violence.
In December, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said the social networking site would be blocked in early 2025, blaming the platform for increasing incidents of violence and bullying among young people.
The move has angered users of the app in the country.
Australia
On April 4, 2023, Australia banned TikTok from all federal government-owned devices for security reasons.
A statement issued by the Attorney-General's Department says TikTok poses security and privacy risks due to "extensive collection of user data and exposure to extrajudicial instructions from a foreign government that conflict with Australian law."
Attorney General Mark Dreyfus said in a statement that based on the advice of intelligence and security services, the ban would come into effect "as soon as possible."
Εσθονία
In late March 2023, Estonia's outgoing Minister of Information Technology and Foreign Trade, Kristjan Järvan, told a local newspaper that TikTok would be banned from smartphones given by the state to civil servants.
However, speaking to Eesti Päevaleht, the minister added: "If a civil servant uses his private phone while working, we really won't look into it."
The uproar surrounding Romania's presidential election last year and concerns that TikTok was manipulated to give an advantage to the relatively unknown far-right candidate Călin Georgescu had alarmed officials across the European Union, but by December, the Estonian government had made it clear that there were no plans for a ban.
The UK
On March 16, 2023, Oliver Dowden, the UK Cabinet Secretary, announced in a statement to the UK House of Commons the immediate ban on the app on official government devices.
"This is a precautionary move. We know there is already limited use of TikTok across government, but it is also good cyber hygiene," the minister said in his speech to MPs.
The ban is based on a report by the UK's National Cyber Security Centre, which found that "there may be a risk around how sensitive government data is accessed and used by some platforms."
EU institutions
The European Parliament, the European Commission and the Council of the EU, the three top EU bodies, have banned TikTok on staff devices, citing cybersecurity concerns.
The European Parliament ban took effect on March 20, 2023. It also “strongly recommended” members of parliament and staff to remove the app from their personal devices as well.
Alleged Russian interference in the first round of the 2024 presidential election in Romania has further muddied the waters regarding the app's future, with the European Commission officially launching an investigation into the platform in December for possible violations of the Digital Services Act (DSA).
France
On March 24, 2023, the French government banned the installation and use of “entertainment” apps like TikTok, Netflix, and Instagram on the work phones of 2,5 million civil servants.
The ban, which was announced through a "binding" directive, took effect immediately and does not apply to the personal phones of government employees.
France is the first country to step up efforts to ban other "entertainment" apps, such as Netflix, on state devices.
"Entertainment applications do not present sufficient levels of cybersecurity and data protection to be deployed on administration equipment. These applications may therefore pose a risk to the data protection of these administrations and their civil servants," the French government said in a statement at the time.
French Public Administration Minister Stanislas Guerini wrote on Twitter that the measure aimed to "ensure the cybersecurity" of the country's administrations and civil servants.
Last May, the French government implemented a temporary ban on TikTok in New Caledonia, a French overseas territory in the Pacific, in an attempt to quell violent unrest there.
the Netherlands
The Dutch Interior Ministry has discouraged the use of all apps from “countries with an aggressive cyber program targeting the Netherlands or Dutch interests” on government-distributed phones by March 2023.
It did not identify TikTok by name, but the advice followed an assessment by the national intelligence agency AIVD that warned that apps from countries such as China, Russia, North Korea and Iran pose an “increased risk of espionage.”
“The central government must be able to do its job securely, including via its mobile devices,” said Alexandra van Huffelen, the Dutch minister for digitalization, on March 21, 2023.
Ultimately, the government wants all public employees' work phones to be configured so that only previously approved applications, software, or features can be installed and used.
Νορβηγία
On March 23, 2023, the Norwegian parliament banned TikTok from work devices after the country's Ministry of Justice warned that the app should not be installed on phones issued to government employees.
Justice Minister Emilie Enger Mehl said in a statement that “in their risk assessments … Norwegian intelligence services single out Russia and China as the main risk factors for Norway’s security interests.”
He added that "social media also stands out as a forum favored by potentially dangerous actors and others who want to influence us with misinformation and fake news."
Civil servants were informed that they can still use TikTok if necessary for business purposes, but only on devices not connected to the government network, the ministry said.
Belgium
On March 10, 2023, Belgium announced that it was banning TikTok from devices owned or paid for by the Belgian federal government for at least six months, citing concerns about cybersecurity, privacy, and disinformation.
Prime Minister Alexander de Kru said the ban was based on warnings from the state security service and the cybersecurity center, which said the app could collect user data and tamper with algorithms to manipulate news feeds and content.
Responding to Belgium's announcement, TikTok said at the time that it was "disappointed by this suspension, which is based on basic misinformation about our company," adding that it was "immediately available to meet with officials to address any concerns and correct misunderstandings."
Denmark
On March 6, 2023, the Danish Ministry of Defense announced that it would “ban the use of the app in official units” as a cybersecurity measure.
In a statement, the ministry said that the Nordic country's Cyber Security Center - which is part of Denmark's foreign intelligence service - had assessed that there was a risk of espionage.
The department said that “there were weighty security considerations at the Department of Defense combined with a very limited work-related need to use the app” and that employees “are required to uninstall TikTok on work phones and other official devices as soon as possible if they have previously installed it.”
Canada
On November 6, the Canadian federal government ordered TikTok to cease operations in the country due to concerns about foreign interference.
Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne told state media that the decision to close two TikTok offices in Toronto and Vancouver came on the advice of Canada's security and intelligence experts.
Canadians can still access TikTok and create content there, but Champagne advised people to do so knowing that their user data could be collected by the Chinese government.
In February, the government banned TikTok from all government devices, saying the app posed an “unacceptable” risk to privacy and security.
Employees are also prevented from downloading the app in the future.
New Zealand
New Zealand Home Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden stressed that the country has no plans to ban the platform.
"While we are closely monitoring developments in other jurisdictions, our government currently has no plans to ban TikTok in New Zealand," he told local media.
India
In 2020, India imposed a ban on TikTok and dozens of other Chinese apps, including messaging app WeChat, due to privacy and security concerns.
The ban came shortly after a clash between Indian and Chinese troops on a disputed Himalayan border, in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed and dozens injured.
The companies had a chance to answer questions about privacy and security requirements, but the ban became permanent in January 2021.
Ταϊβάν
In December 2022, Taiwan imposed a public domain ban on TikTok after the FBI warned that TikTok posed a national security risk.
Government devices, including mobile phones, tablets, and desktop computers, are not allowed to use Chinese-made software, including apps like TikTok, the Chinese equivalent of Douyin, or Xiaohongshu, a Chinese lifestyle content app.
Xiaohongshu, also known as RedNote, saw a significant influx of users as TikTok users moved away from the platform as the US ban approached.
Pakistan
Pakistani authorities have temporarily banned TikTok at least four times since October 2020, citing concerns that the app promotes immoral content.
Afghanistan
The Afghan Taliban leadership banned TikTok and the game PUBG in 2022 on the grounds of protecting young people from "misleading."
Source: economistas.gr
