France bans TikTok, Twitter from government staff phones
The HinduFrance announced Friday it is banning the “recreational” use of TikTok, Twitter, Instagram and other apps on government employees' phones because of concern about insufficient data security measures. The French Minister for Transformation and Public Administration, Stanislas Guerini, said in a statement that ‘’recreational'' apps aren’t secure enough to be used in state administrative services and ’’could present a risk for the protection of data.” The ban will be monitored by France’s cybersecurity agency. Guerini's office said in a message to The Associated Press that the ban also will include Twitter, Instagram, Netflix, gaming apps like Candy Crush and dating apps. Western governments worry Chinese authorities could force TikTok's Chinese owner, ByteDance Ltd., to hand over data on international users or push pro-Beijing narratives.