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©Getty Images The European Commission has banned its employees from using TikTok on professional smartphones or laptops. The app must be removed from all professional devices by March
©Getty Images
The European Commission has banned its employees from using TikTok on professional smartphones or laptops. The app must be removed from all professional devices by March 15th. The Commission wants to protect itself against espionage and influence from China. The De Croo government considers such a ban to be “disproportionate” for our country and sees “no evidence of Chinese interference”. Incomprehensible, says Michael Freilich, member of the N-VA state parliament, who has introduced various legislative initiatives on this subject and has his say in the statement below.
The digital world has become a reflection of the prevailing global tensions, geopolitical conflicts are getting an extension in cyberspace. Attacking and spying on one another online is of course also part of this. The risks are real: we must not be naïve.
TikTok has been in the crosshairs of Western governments and security services for some time. In November 2022, the company had to admit that employees in China had access to users’ personal data. They also tracked down journalists critical of the regime.
It’s time for TikTok restrictions in Belgium.
Several countries are now taking action, including the US, where the app is now banned for MPs, Navy and government personnel. In the Netherlands, a parliamentary majority is calling for a ban on all officials’ duty phones, and in India, Tiktok and about fifty other apps are completely banned.
No actions
Belgium is currently watching the cat from the tree, and that is incomprehensible. It is time for concrete action, guidelines and advice alone are not enough. Even if the state security warns against installing unnecessary applications on devices for professional use or on which sensitive information is stored, the federal government is not taking any concrete political measures to implement this warning.
That emerges from the answers to my parliamentary questions. Minister Van Quickenborne: “In my opinion, a ban on the use of such apps is disproportionate, goes too far and is therefore out of the question.” Not even our security services, important government or military infrastructure. Naive, stupid and dangerous, but it is what you can expect from this government if you read what Prime Minister De Croo told me on the 18th. Really?
A few months after this answer, however, the federal government itself had to admit that the cyber attack on defense and internal affairs had been staged by Chinese hacker groups. Such malicious cyber activity violates norms of responsible government behavior, compromises our sovereignty, democracy, security and society and requires concrete countermeasures.
legislation
In addition, Chinese companies are legally obliged to grant secret services and security services access to their infrastructure and their electronic systems abroad. Just think of the National Security Laws of 2015 and 2017 and China’s Counterintelligence Law of 2014. The Chinese government has provided the CCP (Chinese Communist Party, ed.) with the resources and a legal framework to use corporations to achieve its political goals. They didn’t set it that way for nothing.
As a countermeasure, I have taken several initiatives in the Bundestag to increase our cyber security. For example, I would like the use of certain critical infrastructures to be mandatory Unidirectional gateways this should make hacking from the outside impossible. I have also introduced a bill to bring the government sector within the scope of the NIS Act, requiring us to scale to a higher level of security. And finally, for two years I have been campaigning in the chamber for a list of high-risk suppliers so that there can no longer be incidents with Chinese Huawei routers in the army or Russian anti-virus programs in the FPS Economy.
restrictions
This brings us seamlessly to the Chinese TikTok, which is clearly considered a high-risk product. I am not advocating a general ban on the app, but rather a series of restrictions.
We should not fear repercussions and punitive measures from China. This country also determines the rules for the companies that operate in its country. There is nothing to argue about. The chance that a western company has activities similar to TikTok unfiltered could develop in the People’s Republic of China is zero point zero.
My message is clear: we must become more resilient in the new geopolitical world. Meanwhile, reality has caught up with the De Croo government. The prime minister’s statement that there was no evidence of Chinese interference is clearly outdated. It is incomprehensible to me that there are no concrete consequences associated with this. In doing so, Vivaldi endangers our national security.
The digital world has become a reflection of the prevailing global tensions, geopolitical conflicts are getting an extension in cyberspace. Attacking and spying on one another online is of course also part of this. The risks are real: we must not be naïve: TikTok has been in the crosshairs of Western governments and security services for some time. In November 2022, the company had to admit that employees in China had access to users’ personal data. They also tracked down journalists who had been critical of the regime. Several countries are now taking action, including the US, where the app has now been banned for MPs, Navy and government personnel. In the Netherlands, a parliamentary majority is calling for a ban on all officials’ duty phones, and in India, Tiktok and about fifty other apps are completely banned. No action Belgium is currently looking the cat out of the tree, and that is incomprehensible. It is time for concrete action, guidelines and advice alone are not enough. Even if the state security warns against installing unnecessary applications on devices for professional use or on which sensitive information is stored, the federal government is not taking any concrete political measures to implement this warning. This is already clear from the answers to my parliamentary questions. Minister Van Quickenborne: “In my opinion, a ban on the use of such apps is disproportionate, goes too far and is therefore out of the question.” Not even our security services, important government or military infrastructure. Naive, stupid and dangerous, but it is what you can expect from this government if you read what Prime Minister De Croo told me on the 18th. Really… A few months after this answer, the federal government itself had to admit that the cyber attack on defense and internal affairs was staged by Chinese hacker groups. Such malicious cyber-activities contradict the norms of responsible state behavior, they affect our sovereignty, democracy, security and society and require concrete countermeasures Legislation In addition, Chinese companies are legally obliged to grant intelligence and security services access to their infrastructure and electronic systems, themselves abroad. Just think of the National Security Laws of 2015 and 2017 and China’s Counterintelligence Law of 2014. The Chinese government has provided the CCP (Chinese Communist Party, ed.) with the resources and a legal framework to use corporations to achieve its political goals. It’s not for nothing that they set it that way, and as a countermeasure I have taken various initiatives in the Bundestag to increase our cyber security. For example, I want certain critical infrastructure to use one-way gateways that make outside hacking impossible. I have also introduced a bill to bring the government sector within the scope of the NIS Act, requiring us to scale to a higher level of security. And finally, for two years I have been campaigning in the chamber for a list of high-risk suppliers so that there can no longer be incidents with Chinese Huawei routers in the army or Russian anti-virus programs in the FPS Economy. LimitationsThis seamlessly brings us to the Chinese TikTok, which is clearly considered a high-risk product. I am not advocating a general ban on the app, but rather a series of restrictions: we should not fear any setbacks or punitive measures from China. This country also determines the rules for the companies that operate in its country. There is nothing to argue about. The chance that a Western company could develop activities similar to TikTok unfiltered in the People’s Republic of China is zero point 0. My message is clear: we must become more resilient in the new geopolitical world. Meanwhile, reality has caught up with the De Croo government. The prime minister’s statement that there was no evidence of Chinese interference is clearly outdated. It is incomprehensible to me that there are no concrete consequences associated with this. In doing so, Vivaldi endangers our national security.
Michael Freilich (NVA)
Source: Data News
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