The government on Friday banned the installation and use of “entertainment” apps such as Chinese social network TikTok or US streaming platform Netflix on the work phones of 2.5 million civil servants.
The apps pose “risks in terms of cyber security and the security of data of public officials and administration,” assessed the entourage of Public Service Minister Stanislaus Kurini, following in the footsteps of many Western companies and governments already banned. Or restrict the use of TikTok on work devices.
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Stanislaus Gurini’s entourage explains that the now-banned apps include “a triptych of gaming apps like Candy Crush, streaming like Netflix, and entertainment like TikTok,” with Twitter also blacklisted.
But the government is yet to draw up a uniform list of banned applications, and the move is being taken naturally.
AFP
The ban, which was notified to various ministries through a “restrictive” directive, is effective immediately and does not pertain to personal phones of state officials, according to the government.
Civil servants who wish to use one of the restricted applications for organizational communication purposes must apply for an exemption from their ministry’s digital department.
No unified sanctions regime is anticipated at this stage in case of sanctions violations. According to the services of Stanislaus Guerini, any bans must be decided at the “administrative level” of each ministry.
The White House, the European Commission, the Canadian and British governments, and other organizations have recently banned the use of TikTok on their officials’ work phones.
At the heart of the fear is a 2017 Chinese law that requires local companies to hand over personal data relevant to national security upon request by authorities.
The Chinese government has “never asked or asked any company or individual to collect or hand over data from abroad in violation of local laws,” Mao Ning, the doormat of Chinese diplomacy, assured on Friday.
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