EU bans TikTok on government phones as national security concerns grow from Western lawmakers. TikTok says it feels blindsided by the lack of ‘due process.’

• Western lawmakers have expressed concerns over TikTok’s cybersecurity threats in recent years.

• The EU joins other authorities to ban the app from staff phones over cybersecurity concerns.

• The US Senate as well as more than half of US states also ban the app on government phones.

The European Commission banned TikTok from staff phones over cybersecurity concerns, Reuters reported.

TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese firm ByteDance, accused the EU of not consulting with it before making the move.

“So we are really operating under a cloud. And the lack of transparency and the lack of due process. Quite frankly one would expect, you know, some sort of engagement on this matter,” Caroline Greer, TikTok’s director of public policy and government relations, told Reuters. The company did not respond to Insider’s request for comment.

At a news conference on Thursday, EU industry chief Thierry Breton said the decision was an internal one, and the agency does not have to give a reason for it, Reuters reported.

EU staff members will also have to remove TikTok from their personal devices if those devices access corporate services, Reuters also reported.

Western lawmakers and cybersecurity experts have grown wary of the security threats TikTok may pose in recent years. Authorities are worried that China could collect users’ personal data through the app, a claim that TikTok has repeatedly denied.

There have been several debates in the US over either banning or  enforcing stricter oversight on TikTok.

More than half of US states have banned TikTok from government devices, Insider previously reported. Additionally, the app is banned on the government-owned devices of US Senate employees. 

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