Taiwan investigating Chinese app TikTok over cyber security concerns

Taiwan is investigating Douyin International, the Chinese twin of hugely popular TikTok, for allegedly illegally expanding social media business in the island nation, reported Voice of America (VOA).

On Monday (December 19, 2022), the Mainland Affairs Council of the Executive Yuan confirmed in a local media report the allegations made by a political affairs member of the Executive Yuan that the Mainland Affairs Council took note of the Chinese company ByteDance's opening of a branch in Taiwan, further accusing it of business expansion and transferring cases involving related operators to criminal offences to the judicial authorities for investigation.

App developer ByteDance, headquartered in Beijing, was suspected of running a subsidiary in contravention of a law that restricts a variety of Chinese firms, including social media companies, from operating offices in Taiwan.

A Ministry of Digital Affairs (MODA) official was cited by Liberty Times as saying that Douyin and TikTok (international version) have been deemed to be "harmful products against national information security."

Previously, Taiwan's 'Liberty Times' reported that some entrepreneurs registered and established "ByteDance Taiwan Co., Ltd." in November this year, and introduced the company's social networking with ByteDance's Douyin and Douyin's overseas version of TikTok in job advertisements. The platform has reached a strategic partnership, reported VOA.

Taiwanese law does not allow mainland Chinese social platforms to operate in Taiwan, and offenders can be sentenced to up to 3 years in prison.

In Taiwan, TikTok does not have as many users as Facebook and Instagram, but it is becoming more and more popular among young people, reported VOA.

Taiwan's government has banned the use of computer and phone apps made in mainland China on government equipment due to concerns about information security.

Taiwan's minister for digital development, Tang Feng, said on December 9 that the Taiwan government will hold an inter-ministerial meeting at the end of this month to discuss whether to completely ban the use of the short video platform Douyin or the international version of TikTok developed by a company in mainland China throughout Taiwan, reported VOA.

In response to the potential security risks of the short video sharing platform TikTok, the Mainland Affairs Council of Taiwan sid in a statement on Monday that the mainland has used this app to infiltrate other countries with cognitive operations and collect personal consultations from users for the mainland government, which has attracted the attention of various countries. and take relevant countermeasures.

The US Senate passed the 'Banning TikTok on Government Devices' Bill last Wednesday. At present, more than a dozen states in the United States have ordered that TikTok is not allowed to be used on state government equipment, reported VOA.

Christopher Wray, director of the FBI (Christopher Wray), testified in Congress on November 15 that he had national security concerns about TikTok.

He noted that under Chinese law, "Chinese companies are basically required to do what the Chinese government wants them to do, or share information, or act as a tool of the Chinese government."

TikTok executives have previously said the company protects the data of all US users and that Chinese government officials do not have access to that data.