TikTok, the popular social media platform owned by ByteDance, faces significant challenges as governments worldwide take firm action against it due to rising concerns about data privacy and cybersecurity.
The root cause lies in China’s Data Security Law of 2017, which mandates companies to share personal data relevant to national security. This has prompted various responses from nations globally. New Zealand announced plans in 2023 to ban TikTok from parliamentary staff devices, aligning with similar actions taken by European counterparts. Parliamentary service chief executive Rafael Gonzalez-Montero stated that the decision was based on expert analysis and discussions across government and international forums.In 2023, the Norwegian Parliament banned TikTok on governmental devices after the country’s justice minister revealed security concerns linked to China and Russia.
The bill states that the ban may be enforced unless ByteDance, the Chinese owner of the app, sells TikTok to an entity approved by the US government.The Italian authority said TikTok didn’t have enough safeguards to watch over content, especially stuff that could harm kids and vulnerable people.