BBC advised his employees to remove it tik tak from corporate mobile for security and privacy reasons, unless their use is for reasons journalistic or marketing.

“We do not recommend installing TikTok on a BBC corporate device unless there is a legitimate business reason to do so. If you don’t need the app for work, TikTok should be removed,” the directive sent to staff at the British public broadcaster said on Sunday.

The BBC today warned staff that TikTok should not be used on corporate phones except for editorial or business reasons. Yes, it affects me. But in general: TikTok denies any data sharing with China. Nobody found the smoking gun. And still the fears grow louder

— Zoe Kleinman (@zsk) March 19, 2023

Development began after an app owned by Chinese company ByteDance was banned from use on government smartphones due to concerns access to sensitive personal data.

“The BBC takes the security of its systems, data and people very seriously,” a spokesman for the British broadcaster said.

The BBC is considered the first British media organization and has just second in the world after the Danish public broadcaster issued a TikTok directive.

Among the countries that have banned the use of the application on government mobiles, in addition to the UK, are the USA, Canada, New Zealand, Belgium, as well as the European Commission for their employees.

In 2022, ByteDance admitted that some of its employees, subsequently fired according to the company, tracked the whereabouts of foreign journalists.

The admission has raised concerns among many governments that China may be using the popular video service to gather information or spy on citizens.

TikTok denies doing so, i.e. sharing its users’ personal information with the Chinese government, and says that many governments’ bans on the app on government-owned mobile phones are based on a “fundamental misunderstanding.”

Source: Bloomberg/BBC.