Ophélie Artaud, with AFP
modified to
6:00 p.m., March 14, 2024
While the United States could vote to ban TikTok, the Chinese social network is also in the sights of the European Union and its member states. The protection of personal data, but also of minors, are at the center of the questions.
On Wednesday, the United States House of Representatives adopted a bill that requires the social network TikTok to cut ties with China, and with its parent company, ByteDance. If the text must still be adopted by the Senate, it could, if necessary, force ByteDance to sell the TikTok application within 180 days, failing which it would be excluded from the Apple and Google application stores in the USA. Against a backdrop of rivalry with Beijing, American parliamentarians justify this vote by questions of “national security and data protection linked to the Chinese Communist Party’s relationship with a social network”.
Concerns that find echo on the other side of the Atlantic. Within the European Union, the use of the Chinese social network, very popular among young people, also raises questions. As with the United States, the EU is concerned about the security of user data, but is wondering about other issues. Starting with the protection of minors: a formal investigation was opened on this subject last February for “alleged failings” by the platform. This “infringement procedure” should allow the Commission to ensure that TikTok takes the necessary measures “to protect the physical and emotional well-being of young Europeans”, explained the European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton.
EU employees banned from using TikTok
Also, since last year, the European Commission, the Council and the European Parliament have prohibited their employees from using the application for data protection issues. A measure then taken up by France, which went further with the ban on all so-called “recreational” applications, such as Twitter, Instagram or Netflix, for all of its state civil servants on their professional devices. Belgium, Denmark and Norway then made the same decision.
For the moment, there is no direct threat of ban on the use of TikTok, but the social network remains in the sights of European institutions and states. This Thursday, Italy, for example, imposed a fine of 10 million euros on the social network, for lack of control over content, in particular that which could threaten the safety of minors.