"'Chinese TikTok' Faces Countdown to Ban in France Following the US"

French Senate Releases 183-Page Report
Ban on TikTok Should Be Expanded to Civilians
If Chinese Government Links Are Not Clarified, Ban Will Be Enforced

The French Parliament is preparing a ban on the Chinese video-sharing platform 'TikTok' for public institutions and private companies. The prohibition on the use of 'Chinese TikTok,' suspected of being linked to the Chinese government and potentially threatening national security, is spreading among Western countries.

On the 6th (local time), the French Senate released a 183-page report recommending that the ban on TikTok be extended not only to public institutions but also to senior executives of private companies. It also stated that if TikTok fails to clearly explain its ties to the Chinese government, its use should be banned in France for national security reasons.

The report, published that day, contains the results of the committee's activities launched in March to investigate TikTok's usage, data misuse, influence, propaganda, and misinformation strategies, along with 21 recommendations.

The committee first recommended expanding the ban on TikTok use on work mobile phones used by French public officials to senior executives of private companies. The list of targeted private companies includes sectors such as military, energy, finance, transportation, and resource management.

Furthermore, the committee demanded disclosure of ByteDance's assets and articles of incorporation, the whereabouts of the engineers developing the algorithms and their intellectual property rights, the nature of data sent to mainland China, and the reasons for sending such data. It argued that if no response is provided, the government should proceed with banning TikTok.

The committee recommended to the government that if TikTok does not resolve these suspicions by January 1, 2024, its use should be blocked in France and, more broadly, in Europe.

Before drafting the report, the committee summoned TikTok executives to examine its governance and stated that TikTok should improve its content management methods and introduce effective age restrictions.

Andr? Gatoland, a member of the investigation committee and its vice-chairman, said that TikTok's business model is "completely questionable" in terms of feasibility. Gatoland, a member of the ruling Renaissance party, claimed, "TikTok appears not to be an economic company but a political company aiming to store personal information."

Senator Claude Malheret, who announced the report that day, told reporters, "Chinese ByteDance's TikTok is linked to the Chinese government technologically, financially, politically, and legally."

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

Security concerns that TikTok could siphon off users' personal information have been consistently raised by governments and parliaments worldwide, but TikTok has completely denied these allegations. Previously, the U.S. government also began legislative efforts to expand the TikTok ban from federal officials to the entire American public.

President Emmanuel Macron is not obligated to follow the Senate's recommendations, but given his recent stance on regulating social media after violent protests, attention is focused on what level of guidelines might be issued.

On the 4th, President Macron met with mayors and sparked controversy by stating, "If the situation gets out of control, we may have to regulate or block social media." He pointed out that many minors involved in the riots imitated violence after watching videos posted on TikTok, Snapchat, and other platforms.

Meanwhile, a TikTok spokesperson issued a statement regarding the Senate report, saying, "We strongly disagree with the conclusions of the report, which do not accurately reflect the facts."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.