The order appears in a guidance note sent to government offices on Monday, according to the Reuters news agency, which has seen the note.

The reason why Tiktok needs to be removed from mobile phones and IT systems is to protect US data, according to the guidance note. This is the latest in a series of measures limiting the use of Chinese technology in the US due to national security concerns.

Tiktok has stated that the fear is based on misinformation.

China criticized the decision.

– It abuses state power to suppress foreign companies, and we strongly oppose this, said a statement from China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

[ Hvor farlig er egentlig TikTok? ]

Vote against use

In December, Congress voted to ban federal employees from using Chinese video apps on government-owned devices and gave the Biden administration 60 days to pass new rules on their use.

Many public agencies and government offices have phased out the use of Tiktok on their phones and systems, including the White House itself and the Department of Defense.

Tiktok is owned by China’s ByteDance, and in recent months there has been concern in Western countries about how much access Chinese authorities have to user data collected through the app.

Last week, the European Commission announced that the app is prohibited for employees and must be removed by 15 March. In Sweden, government employees are also being urged to take down Tiktok.

Canada also bans

On Monday, the Canadian government also announced it had banned Tiktok from all government employees’ phones and other IT equipment.

The government announced Monday that the app will be removed from all phones given to employees by the government, and they will no longer be able to download the app.

There’s no evidence that government information was lost to Tiktok, but Canadian authorities point out that the methods TikTok uses to collect data gave the company significant access to phone content.

[ – Det er stor risiko for sabotasje på russisk side ]

[ Både Ap og Sp faller igjen på snittmåling ]