The broadcaster has launched multiple pages on the app as it attempts to reach new audiences, and its official account has 4.4 million followers…reports Asian Lite News
The BBC said that it had told staff to delete Chinese-owned video app TikTok unless it was needed for business reasons, with Western institutions increasingly taking a harder stance over data collection fears.
The British broadcasting giant reported that it sent staff a message on Sunday saying: “We don’t recommend installing TikTok on a BBC corporate device unless there is a justified business reason.
“If you do not need TikTok for business reasons, TikTok should be deleted,” it added.
Western authorities have been taking an increasingly firm approach to the app, owned by the firm ByteDance, citing fears that user data could be used or abused by Chinese officials.
The UK on Thursday announced a security ban on TikTok on government devices, in line with action by the European Union and the United States.
The BBC told AFP on Monday that it “takes the safety and security of our systems, data and people incredibly seriously”.
It added that while usage of TikTok on its corporate devices is still permitted for editorial and marketing purposes, “we will continue to monitor and assess the situation”.
The broadcaster has launched multiple pages on the app as it attempts to reach new audiences, and its official account has 4.4 million followers.
ByteDance has long insisted that it does not keep data in China or share it with Beijing.
Chinese-owned video hosting service TikTok can threaten America’s safety and its national security, the White House had said last week.
Responding to a media query over the TikTok ban during a press briefing, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, “We have expressed concerns over China’s potential use of software platforms that could endanger or threaten America’s safety and national security so that is the President concerned that is why we have called on Congress to take action.” “We have seen a bipartisan piece of legislation that you know and have been covering, which is the President’s main priority. I am sure when it comes to their safety when it comes to their security and when it comes to our national security, those things are protected and so that has been the President’s focus over the last couple of years,” she added.
In the press briefing, the White House press secretary further stated that Sophia, who is reviewing this particular software and the TikTok app, supports the bipartisan legislation mentioned earlier.
“Look the bottom line is that when it comes to potential threats to our national security, the safety of Americans, privacy, we are going to speak out and we are going to be very clear about that and the Prez has been last 2 years and so we are asking Congress to act, to move forward with this bipartisan legislation that was the strict action that we just mentioned and we are going to continue to do so,” Pierre said.
This statement from the White House Press Secretary came after the group of Senators introduced the “Restricting the Emergence of Security Threats that Risk Information and Communications Technology” (RESTRICT) Act.
The Act would give new powers to the US government to take action against technologies posing risk to the country.
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