Image: LOIC VENANCE (AFP)
After Interior Minister Gerald Karner announced on Wednesday morning that he would ban the use of TikTok on company cell phones in the federal area, the state of Upper Austria followed suit in the afternoon.
Provincial Governor Thomas Stelzer (VP) said the app would be banned from the service cell phones of state employees.
Like Karner before him, Stelzer cites safety concerns. The functions of the app allow foreign authorities access to the service devices. Karner had justified the measure with corresponding recommendations from an interministerial working group. It was taken in the interests of information and data security, said the interior minister, noting that TikTok is a Chinese state-owned company.
Those employees who work on the official TikTok channels of the state of Upper Austria (e.g. child and youth ombudsman or employer branding) will receive specially secured devices for this purpose. Employees in the federal government will also be able to continue to use the app, but only on private devices. Such “open phones” can also be used by law enforcement when TikTok research is part of the investigation. The TikTok channels of politicians can thus continue to operate.
Several countries from the USA to France, as well as the European Commission, had already banned TikTok use on company cell phones in the past few weeks.
Source: Nachrichten
