After Canada, Australia, Great Britain and the USA now also New Zealand. The popular TikTok app is to be blocked on all cell phones with access to the parliamentary network by the end of the month.
According to media reports, the app will be blocked on all mobile phones and other devices with access to the parliament network, including MPs’ phones, by March 31. This was reported by Radio New Zealand and other media. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said, according to Radio New Zealand, he had not yet been informed of the Parliamentary Administration’s decision. He doesn’t use TikTok himself.
Company Bytedance’s app has already been banned from government cell phones or MPs’ devices in Canada, Australia, the UK and the US. “Global tensions are rising following the Chinese spy balloon incident earlier this year,” said New Zealand’s leading cybersecurity firm CyberCX, which called the TikTok ban necessary. “There are legitimate concerns around the world about the Chinese government’s access to and use of TikTok data,” the company said in a statement.
