Danish parliament urges to remove TikTok over cybersecurity

By: The Associated Press Posted: 4:03 AM CST Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023 Last Modified: 4:10 AM CST Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023

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COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The Danish parliament on Tuesday urged lawmakers and employees with the 179-member assembly against having TikTok on work phones as a cybersecurity measure, saying “there is a risk of espionage.”

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/02/2023 (1265 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The popular video-sharing app, which is Chinese-owned, faces intensifying scrutiny from Europe and the U.S. over security and data privacy amid worries that TikTok could be used to promote pro-Beijing views or sweep up users’ information.

Danish parliamentary Speaker Søren Gade said that an email had been sent out Tuesday to lawmakers and employees with ”a strong recommendation that you delete the TikTok app if you have previously installed it.”

FILE - A visitor passes the TikTok exhibition stands at the Gamescom computer gaming fair in Cologne, Germany, Thursday, Aug. 25, 2022. The European Union's executive arm said Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023 it has temporarily banned TikTok from phones used by employees as a cybersecurity measure, reflecting growing worries from authorities over the Chinese-owned video sharing app. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)

The assembly acted after an assessment from Denmark’s Center for Cyber Security, which had said there was a risk of espionage. The agency is part of Denmark’s foreign intelligence service.

“We adapt accordingly,” Gade said in a statement.

It wasn’t immediately known how many Danish lawmakers have TikTok installed. In recent days, several politicians have publicly announced that they had deleted the app from their work phone for cybersecurity reasons.

Earlier this month, the European Union’s executive branch said it has temporarily banned TikTok from phones used by employees as a cybersecurity measure.

The EU’s action follows similar moves in the U.S., where more than half of the country’s 50 states and Congress have banned TikTok from official government devices.

In Norway, which isn’t a member of the 27-nation EU, the justice minister was forced to apologize this month for failing to disclose that she had installed TikTok on her government-issued phone.