European Union Banning TikTok On Official Government Devices
Just a day after the White House gave all federal agencies 30 days to remove the social media video-sharing app TikTok from all government devices, the European Parliament voted to ban the Chinese-produced app from staff devices.
“In view of cybersecurity concerns, in particular regarding data protection and collection of data by third parties, the European Parliament has decided, in alignment with other institutions, to suspend as from 20 March 2023, the use of the TikTok mobile application on corporate devices,” the European Parliament announced.
TikTok has fired back, calling the bans “disappointing” and with no “deliberation or evidence” that the app presents a cybersecurity threat.
“These bans are based on basic misinformation about our company, and we are readily available to meet with officials to set the record straight about our ownership structure and our commitment to privacy and data security. We share a common goal with governments that are concerned about user privacy, but these bans are misguided and do nothing to further privacy or security,” a TikTok spokesperson told reporters via a statement. “We appreciate that some governments have wisely chosen not to implement such bans due to a lack of evidence that there is any such need.”
Addressing The Security Threat
The European Commission has called for the ban due to cybersecurity threats. A lingering concern according to cybersecurity experts has been that TikTok is able to avoid code audits on the Apple and Google app stores and that it could be capable of changing how it works without users’ knowledge.
“Removing TikTok from EU and U.S. government-owned phones is a good first step towards addressing concerns over foreign influence and surveillance; however, these users only represent a small fraction of the total population of EU and U.S. citizens using TikTok. The most alarming concern with TikTok is its ability to access and influence hundreds of millions of individuals. Banning TikTok on government devices should just be the first step of larger efforts to ensure all citizens can safely and securely use these services while maintaining protected privacy rights,” explained Michael Oglesby, adjunct professor at the University of Tulsa’s Online Master’s in Cyber Security program.
TikTok has been accused of being a data-gathering arm of the Chinese government, while the company has maintained that its servers for users in countries outside of China are not accessible by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Clearly, however, the EU and U.S. governments do not believe them.
Oglesby suggested the concern isn’t overstated.
“Within the cyber and national security communities, government-sponsored espionage and mass surveillance from countries like China and Russia are the worst kept secrets,” Oglesby said via an email. “Concern is absolutely warranted and these and other entities are regularly engaging in these attacks. Few private companies or individuals have the resources or skills to combat nation-state-level threats. Bringing together the EU and U.S. policy makers is imperative to ensure security at these levels.”
Beyond Data Mining
TikTok has been seen to pose other cybersecurity threats beyond its potential use as a data-gathering mechanism by the CCP.
“Data-gathering is certainly one threat, however, an even more important threat is their ability to influence behavior. The algorithms and AI models that drive the recommendation engines are not well understood but have a direct impact on what our youth see and hear every day,” said Oglesby.
“TikTok is just the latest example of how far behind cybersecurity policy is in the war on social media and global privacy,” Oglesby continued. “New technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning are far outpacing today’s security policy. Cyber threats like global censorship, deep fakes, bots, fake media, and malicious AI models are just some of the very real concerns that we face today.”
While most cybersecurity experts recommend that a comprehensive cybersecurity framework is needed to address these threats, the problem is that TikTok could target those who simply don’t understand the threat they’re facing.
“What’s most alarming to me is that many of these threats are targeted at our children and youth who often lack the skills and knowledge to know when they are being manipulated,” warned Oglesby. “It can be difficult to impossible to discern what is fake from what is real online.”
