Big blow to TikTok! The European Union has banned the application for security reasons.

Last December, the US Senate made it mandatory for all federal employees to remove TikTok from government devices. A similar but more comprehensive decision was taken by the two most important bodies of the European Union this time, and TikTok was banned among employees.

TikTok is banned in EU institutions

Concerns are growing for TikTok, the popular social media app owned by Chinese ByteDance. Due to the legal regulations in China, the Chinese government has great pressure on the company in the country. TikTok is allegedly sharing sensitive user data with China. European Union institutions, on the other hand, banned TikTok among employees, citing security concerns over growing concerns.

The EU Commission and the European Council, within the scope of their decision, asked employees to remove TikTok from both their corporate devices and personal devices. “This measure aims to protect the Commission against cybersecurity threats and actions that could be used in cyberattacks against the Commission’s institutional environment,” said Commission spokesperson Sonya Gospodinova. It was also stated that employees have until March 15 to remove TikTok from their devices.

TikTok, on the other hand, said that before the announcement, it was “disappointed” and “surprised” that the Commission and the authorities did not reach them. Speaking to Reuters, a TikTok spokesperson said that they will explain how they protect user data by contacting the EU. TikTok stated that they believe the decision was due to misdirections and understandings. On the other hand, the application once again underlined that it does not share user data with Chinese authorities.