Now Netflix and Twitter are being lumped in with TikTok.
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Seeing TikTok banned from government devices in various countries around the world seems to be a daily occurrence right now. But France has taken things in a direction we didn’t see coming.
Sure, the United Kingdom and the United States have kicked TikTok off government devices. And yes, the BBC has also told employees that they can’t use TikTok either. But now France has joined the growing list of countries telling their employees that they can’t use TikTok on their work devices. And they’ve taken things much further than anyone else.
No fun for you
Engadget and Le Monde report that French authorities have banned what they call “recreational” apps. That does include TikTok, but it also includes Netflix, Twitter, and even Candy Crush. That’s no way to live, surely.
The banning of the wider recreational app category might make you think that this is all about making sure that people are actually working at work. But not so according to the office of public service minister Stanislas Guerini. It’s instead because the apps are cybersecurity risks that could prove problematic for the data of both employees and the government itself.
Basically, France’s government thinks that Candy Crush might be spying on its people. Or something.
There is no full list of apps that have found themselves banned, but like other countries, France says that there will be exceptions. Those who need the apps for their work will still be able to use them. And importantly, this doesn’t affect people’s personal devices. They can binge-watch Netflix and scroll through TikTok to their heart’s content so long as they don’t do it on government hardware.
TikTok is of course the main focus for everyone right now. It’s being banned left and right over concerns that it could be handing data over to the Chinese government by way of its Chinese parent company, ByteDance. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew was even dragged before a U.S. congressional meeting to explain how his company works – only to be faced with incredible questions including whether the app uses Wi-Fi.
