BenarNews-Sept 20
The Philippines has set up a task force to study a possible ban on government security employees using Chinese-owned platform TikTok to block the app’s potential for cyberespionage, a National Security Council official said Wednesday. The ban is also being considered to ensure the app is not used as a propaganda tool, Jonathan Malaya, assistant director general at the NSC, told a local television channel, amid growing concern about TikTok’s risks and heightened tensions between Manila and Beijing over the South China Sea. “The reason for this proposal [to ban TikTok] is two-fold. Number one, is the threat of data collection or cyber espionage … and number two, the possible use of TikTok as a social influence tool,” Malaya said. “You know through algorithms you can affect civic discourse, so it is on that basis that we’re making the study and we hope we finish soon.” The task force includes the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, the military, and the Department of Information and Communication Technology. It will determine whether TikTok is being used to gather crucial intelligence information, Malaya said. TikTok is owned by Beijing-based ByteDance Ltd., and under Chinese law, all Chinese companies have to cooperate with their government, the NSC official noted. The task force was looking into the proposal to ban government security workers from using TikTok “as a proactive step to ensure the security of our security personnel,” Malaya said. Read more at: https://www.benarnews.org/english/news/philippine/manila-may-ban-tiktok-for-govt-workers-09202023131259.html
