TikTok takes another hit: This time from BBC!

On top of the recent decisions of some countries against the app, TikTok is facing another wave of bans as BBC has advised staff to delete it from corporate phones because of privacy and security fears.

According to a report by BBC's Zoe Kleinman, Andre Rhoden-Paul, and Chris Vallance, the media organization has issued its workers to delete the app from their corporate phones. BBC is the second media organization to take such action after Denmark's public service broadcaster. It is still permitted on personal devices.

"The decision is based on concerns raised by government authorities worldwide regarding data privacy and security. If the device is a BBC corporate device, and you do not need TikTok for business reasons, TikTok should be deleted from the BBC corporate mobile device," said the company in an email sent to its staff.

 

TikTok wants to find the middle ground

On the other hand, a spokesperson from TikTok said: "The BBC has a strong presence on our platform, with multiple accounts from news through to music reaching our engaged community both in the UK and around the world. We believe these bans have been based on fundamental misconceptions and driven by wider geopolitics. We remain in close dialogue with the BBC and are committed to working with them to address any concerns they have."

The reason behind this action is TikTok's parent company ByteDance could share personal data with the Chinese government. Most Western countries have been expressing their concerns in this field for a while now, with the United States leading the debate against China while TikTok keeps denying the "accusations." However, last year it was discovered that some ByteDance employees tracked the locations of a handful of Western journalists, and the company fired the employees who were caught red-handed.

The list of countries that ban TikTok from governmental devices keeps getting longer. It first started with the United States, Canada, Belgium, and the European Commission. Recently, the United Kingdom also issued a similar ban, and lastly, New Zealand joined the list. It is now forbidden to use TikTok on any of the governmental devices of these countries.

TikTok is being criticized and "punished" by many Western authorities, and it looks like the list will continue to grow until the company somehow shows solid proof that could exonerate it. The US government demanded ByteDance divest from TikTok over national security concerns. That might be a move that could convince Western countries, but the future of TikTok remains uncertain.

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