A spokeswoman for China’s foreign ministry has accused the US of abusing state power following orders from the White House that government employees delete the video-sharing app, TikTok, from federal devices.
Following the lead of the EU and Canada who implemented similar orders in recent weeks, the White House has given government agencies 30 days to ensure that their employees remove the Chinese-owned app from their work phones.
The move comes after concerns that the app might present a security risk by harvesting users’ data and handing it to the Chinese government, an accusation that both the Chinese foreign ministry and TikTok deny.
TikTok, which is owned by Chinese firm ByteDance, insists that it would never comply with an order to share its users’ data.
According to the BBC, Moa Ning, spokeswoman for the Chinese foreign ministry, told reporters earlier this week that the White House was wrong to implement the ban.
‘The US government should respect the principles of market economy and fair competition, stop suppressing companies and provide an open, fair and non-discriminatory environment for foreign companies in the US,’ she said.
‘How unsure of itself can the world’s top superpower like the US be to fear young people’s favourite app like that,’ Ning added.
Director of the US Office of Management and Budget, Shalanda Young, said on Monday that the White House’s order marked a ‘critical step forward in addressing the risks presented by the app to sensitive government data’.
Similarly, US Federal Chief Information Security Officer, Chris DeRusha, supported the move, saying that it highlighted the Biden administration’s ‘ongoing commitment to securing our digital infrastructure and protecting the American people’s security and privacy’.