The British parliament followed the government in banning TikTok on Thursday, depriving lawmakers access to the Chinese-owned video app over its internet network.
The announcement came as TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew testified before a hostile US Congress about the company’s alleged ties to the communist government in Beijing.
The app “shall be disabled from all parliamentary devices and the wider parliamentary network,” according to the Houses of Commons and Lords, who added that “cyber security is a major priority for parliament.”
Individual Lawmakers who are regular TikTok users, such as Energy Security Secretary Grant Shapps, will be able to use the app on their own phones, but not when connected to the parliament’s own WiFi network.
Last week, the United Kingdom issued a security ban on TikTok on government devices, following the lead of the European Union and the United States.
Shapps, who has over 14,000 TikTok followers, said he would comply with the ban on his government phone but continue to use the app on his personal devices.
Scotland’s devolved government stated Thursday that it will also ban the app from being used on official devices.
ByteDance, TikTok’s owner, and the Chinese government have dismissed security issues about the app and denounced Western bans as politically motivated.
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