TikTok defends app following Welsh and UK government ban

Chinese-owned social media app TikTok has defended itself after it was banned from UK and Welsh government phones

TikTok has defended itself after the social media app was banned from UK and Welsh government phones.

The decision was made over fears sensitive data on official phones could be accessed by the Chinese government.

MPs have been quizzing social media bosses as part of a Welsh Affairs Committee inquiry into the changing broadcasting landscape.

Giles Derrington, of TikTok, said the UK government had identified "no specific issue" with the app.

He told the committee that the removal from government phones was done "on a purely precautionary basis".

"What the government has said… was very clear that this was being done largely because of geopolitical concerns because others have taken similar steps," he said.

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Similar bans on the Chinese-owned app are also in place in the US and Canadian governments and the European Commission.

Mr Derrington said: "What I do think is important is that we as a company, which to be clear is not headquartered in China, TikTok doesn't even exist in China, is headquartered elsewhere."

He added that the company was taking a number of steps "to try and make sure there's protection so that every user and every government can be sure that we are keeping their data safe".

One example he gave was that all UK and EEA citizens data is being moved to data centres within Europe.

"The intention of that is they are they in European countries governed by GDPR and no other country can force a sovereign state to breach GDPR", he said.

Age verification

Asked by Plaid Cymru MP Ben Lake whether TikTok was confident in their system to catch people lying about their age, Mr Derrington said: "We know we're not perfect.

"There's a huge role here for parents and educating, working with parents so they understand the tools available to them, they understand that TikTok is for over 13s only and act appropriately."

He said that some age verification technologies are "not yet mature enough" to be fully foolproof.

"There's going to be a balance always between age assurance and data protection, because what we don't want to be doing as an industry is collecting lots of under 13s users passport details," he added.