This was reported by Ukrinform with reference to The Local.

“Using mobile phones and tablets can in itself pose a security risk, so we don’t want TikTok in our work equipment,” Swedish armed forces spokesperson Guna Graufeldt told AFP.

This decision is based on “open source reporting on how the app processes user information and the actions of the company that owns ByteDance.”

Last week, the neighboring Norwegian parliament banned the use of TikTok on devices that have access to the legislature’s system. In France, this app is banned from downloading to work phones of public sector employees.

The European Commission and the governments of the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and New Zealand have told officials that they cannot use TikTok on work devices for fear of scrutiny by Chinese authorities.

The owner company insisted that the Chinese government does not control user information. But in November he acknowledged that some employees in China had access to data from European users, and in December he said the data was used to spy on journalists.

Beijing said last week that it does not require companies to hand over data collected abroad. “China has never and will not require companies or individuals to collect or provide data hosted in another country in violation of local laws,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said.

As Ukrinform reported, US Congress Speaker of the House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy said that China has access to the data of users of the TikTok application.

Photo: dpa