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US government bans Tik Tok from government devices

Beijing accuses Washington of overreacting after order to remove Chinese app

China has accused the US of overreacting after federal employees were ordered to remove the video app TikTok from government-issued phones. On Monday, the White House gave government agencies 30 days to ensure that employees did not have the Chinese-owned app on federal devices. The order follows similar moves by the EU and Canada in recent weeks. A spokesperson for China's foreign ministry accused the US of abusing state power to suppress foreign firms. Western officials have become increasingly concerned about the popular video sharing app - which is owned by Chinese firm ByteDance - in recent months. TikTok has faced allegations that it harvests users' data and hands it to the Chinese government, with some intelligence agencies worried that sensitive information could be exposed when the app is downloaded to government devices as Chris Stokel-Walker, tech journalist and author of TikTok Boom, explains -

(Picture: Person holds a smartphone with Tik Tok logo displayed in this picture illustration Credit: Reuters)

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