Following Telegram, the Ukrainian parliament may block TikTok. Why they considered this option is beyond the story.
The issue of banning TikTok is acute in many Western countries, because China, according to the US government, monitors users through this program. Washington has repeatedly said Beijing collects vast amounts of data, including texts people type on their keyboards offline. Subsequently, this information is apparently transferred to servers controlled by the DPRK.
Ban on application in Ukraine
The topic of blocking TikTok has started to be heard in our country. It was actively promoted by the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Freedom of Speech Yaroslav Yurchyshyn.
On April 1, the citizen’s representative said that banning the application could become a reality in Ukraine if the blocking of TikTok in the United States is approved.
“If such sanctions are introduced in a partner country, we introduce them. Everything is very difficult here, but this can be another trump card in negotiations not only with TikTok, but also with Telegram, if the States will take a massive step,” Yurchyshyn explained in the RBC-Ukraine interview.
In addition, according to him, Ukraine monitors all processes and issues regarding restrictions on TikTok in different countries, in particular Spain and Norway.
“We follow the recommendations of the Norwegian government not to use either TikTok or Telegram in governance processes. But we must understand that in the Scandinavian countries, if there is a government recommendation not to do something, most of society is not doing it,” added the head of the Parliamentary Committee.
New statement
On April 2, Yaroslav Yurchyshyn made another statement: they say that Ukraine does not need a US decision to block the application. The Verkhovna Rada could adopt such a standard on its own if TikTok continues to ignore Russian propaganda on its platform.
“The Center for Combating Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council discovered an entire network engaged in Russian propaganda on TikTok. I haven’t heard TikTok’s reaction. If TikTok doesn’t respond and it just gets worse, there could be this situation, ” said Yurchyshyn, adding that for now the authorities do not want to ban the application and prefer to reach an agreement.
Why States can’t fight TikTok
The app became available in the US in 2016 and was the first popular platform in the States to launch in China rather than Silicon Valley. TikTok is currently used by 170 million Americans.
The first person to start fighting the app was Donald Trump. In particular, in 2019, when he left the presidency, he imposed sanctions against TikTok, but the scandal was resolved and he was forgotten.
The interception process flared up with renewed vigor last year, when new data and evidence emerged from American intelligence indicating espionage on the part of the service.
Today, the application is banned for use on government devices in many American states, as well as in some other countries. Some Western governments are trying to block it for all citizens.
On March 13, the US House of Representatives passed a bill requiring TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to sell its US office and its entire capacity to a local buyer or the app would be banned from US phones.
The government is promising to fine the two major mobile app stores and any cloud hosting companies to ensure that US citizens cannot access the program.
As American lawyers note, the problem with banning TikTok in the country is that Americans have a constitutional right to access any information, even if it is considered foreign propaganda.
Additionally, they say, the US government has failed to pass any federal data privacy protections that would address TikTok’s main problem of swallowing US users’ data and giving it to its Chinese parent company.
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Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.