TikTok is prohibited on UK government phones.

In response to mounting worries over the Chinese-owned video app, Oliver Dowden has declared that TikTok will be prohibited from government devices, following the lead of the EU Commission and several American administrations.

According to Cabinet Office minister Oliver Dowden, the Chinese-owned video app TikTok will be blocked from UK government phones due to security concerns.

Mr Dowden said there "may" be a risk to how the app uses information and data from the government in a statement to parliament.

Although TikTok use is "minimal," he claimed, banning it is a matter of good "cyber hygiene" and aligns the UK with the US, Canada, and the EU. Labour accused Mr Dowden of "locking the stable door once the horse has bolted" by delaying the implementation of the prohibition.

The security and data privacy of the video-sharing app has come under increased scrutiny due to worries that it could be used to spread pro-Beijing ideologies or collect user data, both of which TikTok vehemently denies.

The EU Commission has already proposed a prohibition, and half or more US states and Congress are worried about potential cyberattacks.

Mr Dowden emphasised that the government encouraged people to use TikTok for personal use. "This ban applies to government corporate devices within ministerial and non-ministerial departments, but it will not extend to personal devices for government employees, ministers, or the general public," he said to the House of Representatives.

That is because, as I've shown, this is an appropriate action based on a particular risk with government gadgets. According to the cabinet office, the move was made because users of TikTok are expected to provide data, including contacts, user content, and geolocation information.

The prohibition will go into force "immediately" on Thursday, according to Mr Dowden. When the app is necessary for a job, he added, "limited exemptions" will be given on a "case by case basis" for select government gadgets.

ByteDance, a Chinese internet business, which owns TikTok, expressed disappointment with the decision. A representative stated: "We feel that these restrictions result from fundamental misunderstandings and broader geopolitics, in which TikTok and our millions of UK users have no influence.

"We're still dedicated to collaborating with the government to address any issues, but we should be evaluated objectively and given the same respect as our rivals.

"We have started putting into action a comprehensive plan to strengthen the protection of our European user data, which includes keeping UK user data in our European data centres and tightening data access restrictions, including an independent third-party review of our strategy."

Beijing, which has accused the US of propagating false information and stifling TikTok amid rumours the White House is urging its Chinese owners to sell their interests, is also sure to be incensed by the restriction.

But, she added that "once again, the government is late to the game." Deputy Labour Leader Angela Rayner supported the initiative.

"Parliament terminated its TikTok account in August of last year, and as the minister just mentioned, in December, the US prohibited TikTok from official devices, and over a month ago, the European Commission followed suit," she said in a statement to the Commons.

However, the Secretary of State for Science and Innovation stated that the app was a question of personal preference on February 28. She claimed that a ban would be quite direct since there is no proof.

"What has thus changed? Two weeks, two ministers, and two very different policies later, the same pattern keeps repeating: a government behind the times with band-aid fixes that are compelled to make a last-minute U-turn."

By suggesting that the UK will "look at what our associates are doing," Prime Minister Rishi Sunak stated that TikTok might be banned.

To keep the UK's "diplomatic processes free and safe," security minister Tom Tugendhat said earlier this week that he had ordered the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) to investigate the app.

Although TikTok has long said it does not share data with China, Chinese intelligence law obliges businesses to assist the Communist Party when asked. Opponents worry that the plan would give Beijing access to western data.