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According to Tsakhkna, there are “legitimate concerns” that user data could end up in the hands of the Chinese authorities.
Europe should consider banning the Chinese social network TikTok, following the example of the United States. According to Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna, the EU has already seen how TikTok spreads disinformation, ERR reports.
He noted that a striking example was the presidential election in Romania, where the results of the first round were annulled due to Russian interference through a large-scale online campaign. According to Tsahkna, such applications do not convey balanced information, but “rather allow the effective dissemination of biased information.” He added that Tiktok collects a lot of data about users, but it is unclear who can access it.
“TikTok is not a media outlet, but a weapon of influence,” the minister noted.
Tsakhkna noted that TikTok is owned by a Chinese company and there are “legitimate concerns” that data could end up in the hands of Chinese authorities. He added that last year the Foreign Intelligence Service found that TikTok was collecting a large amount of information that could be useful for intelligence.
“In light of all of the above, given the security risks, a ban on TikTok should also be considered in Europe,” he said.