TECH NEWS – The President of the European Commission has made a statement suggesting that ByteDance’s social video-sharing platform could be blocked in the European Union, following in the footsteps of the United States.

With the European Union now viewing Apple as the digital gatekeeper for both iOS and iPadOS, attention is shifting to TikTok with the goal of potentially banning it in the EU. In the US, ByteDance has nine or even twelve months to sell it (and thus remove Chinese influence). Politico reported what Ursula von der Leyen said.

There was a debate in Maastricht where von der Leyen said the app was dangerous and pointed out that the European Commission was the first institution in the world to ban the platform, which runs under the name Douyin in China, on corporate phones because they know exactly the dangers of TikTok. It is already under investigation for giving vouchers to watch videos, which contributes to the addiction of children and teenagers, making them addicted to TikTok, which they can use for hours a day.

TikTok is a short-form (vertical) video platform and is popular worldwide, but the danger is that it also has the presence of the Chinese Communist Party, which can force companies to hand over user data at any time. For this reason, the app is also considered dangerous in the US.

The European Union actively monitors developments in the technology industry and tends to take action against practices that hinder competition. Apple currently has six months to comply with the Digital Markets Act (DMA). This is one of the reasons why the iPad, like the iPhone, has the ability to sideload apps from outside the Apple App Store, and why Epic Games has announced that Fortnite will return to the iPad.

Source: WCCFTech, Politico