Why Are Some Countries Banning TikTok?
Why Are Some Countries Banning TikTok?
TikTok has already been banned in India and might be banned in the United States as well. According to India’s official statement, the app was banned because it represented a threat to the privacy of its citizens and their data. Tiktok was one of 59 apps that were banned in the country following a border dispute.
According to The Economic Times, India’s Ministry of Information Technology made the following statement:
“The compilation of these data, its mining and profiling by elements hostile to national security and defence of India, which ultimately impinges upon the sovereignty and integrity of India, is a matter of very deep and immediate concern which requires emergency measures.”
This concern about data mining is the primary reason the U.S. has given regarding banning TikTok from its country as well. While TikTok denies that the data from this app is shared with the Chinese government, the U.S. has already restricted service members from using the app.
Involvement of the Chinese government
The concern comes from the assumed inability of Chinese companies to refuse Communist Party requests to their user data. TikTok has stated that all U.S. data is stored in the U.S. and therefore isn’t subject to Chinese law. If you’d like to know more about the privacy risks of TikTok, you can read our article on the dangers of TikTok.
While there were talks in Australia to ban the app, the federal government in the country has decided against it after stating TikTok wasn’t a national security threat. In 2018, both Indonesia and Bangladesh blocked TikTok in their countries, but these measures have since been lifted. The reason for the ban was cited as inappropriate content and blasphemy. According to bdnews24.com, this was resolved when TikTok put certain censorship measures in place in these countries.
| LOCATION | BANNED STATUS | REASON |
|---|---|---|
| India | Banned since June 2020 | Data security threat |
| Indonesia | Censored | Inappropriate content |
| Bangladesh | Censored | Inappropriate content |
| Australia | Not currently banned | Investigating concerns |
| European Union | Not currently banned | Investigating concerns |
| United States | Pending ban | Data security threat |
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