Government officials should no longer be allowed to have the TikTok app on their work phones. This is the opinion of the majority in the House of Representatives.
The social media app has a Chinese parent company, and the coalition parties in the room are concerned about the level of data protection. The fear is that user data can be viewed by the Chinese government.
In December, Tiktok made a change to its privacy policy that allows Chinese employees to access the data of European users. It is not entirely clear what data these employees have access to and which employees are affected.
“Don’t be naive”
D66 MP Hind Dekker-Abdulaziz speaks of a “potentially high security risk.” “Let’s play it safe and ban TikTok on officers’ work devices.” This affects about 140,000 civil servants working for the government.
The CDA argues that the Netherlands should follow the US example. “We must not be naive and follow the path of the American government,” says MP Evert Jan Slootweg.
In the US, it has been decided that for security reasons, TikTok can no longer be used by officers on duty phones. And in Washington, there’s talk of making the app completely impossible to use.
undemocratic superpower
MP Hawre Rahimi says VVD is also concerned about TikTok’s security risks. He points out that studies on the dangers of the application continue. “But when in doubt, the motto is don’t be confrontational.” The party therefore supports the proposal to ban civil servants.
This also applies to ChristenUnie, which has called for the app to be banned completely in the Netherlands. “Let’s get started right away,” says Bundestag member Nico Drost. “If it’s not good enough for the authorities, why should it be good enough for our children?”
Secretary of State Alexandra van Hufflen of Digitization says she understands the chamber’s concerns, but doesn’t want to “just” follow through with American TikTok’s ban on civil servants. Van Hufflen will look into this and hope to make a decision in a few weeks.
At the end of last year, tech entrepreneur Alexander Klöpping spoke out in favor of a general ban on Tiktok, which has more than 3.5 million users in the Netherlands and is especially popular with children. He called the video app dangerous because of the company’s processing of data, but also because of the influence of social media on teenagers.
Source: NOS
Emma Fitzgerald is an accomplished political journalist and author at The Nation View. With a background in political science and international relations, she has a deep understanding of the political landscape and the forces that shape it.
