On Thursday, the British government made the decision to ban TikTok on its official mobile phones, citing security concerns. TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, has responded with disappointment, insisting that it is committed to addressing any concerns related to the application.

The ban does not affect personal telephones of members of the Executive but has still put the United Kingdom in line with other countries and the European Union in implementing such a ban on TikTok for employees. The United States and Canada have also taken similar steps.

TikTok, however, defended itself by stating that it does not facilitate the Chinese government’s access to users’ data. The social network has asserted that the decision of the British government to ban the application is based on fundamental misconceptions and broader politics, in which TikTok and its millions of UK users play no part.

Security concerns surrounding popular apps like TikTok have been a subject of increasing discourse across the world. While popular among its millions of users, raising such genuine security concerns surrounding TikTok has led to its ban, with countries such as the United Kingdom taking the necessary steps to protect its sensitive information against potential threats.