France has become the latest country to ban TikTok on government employees’ phones because of concerns about insufficient data security measures.

It has also banned the “recreational” use of Twitter, Instagram, Netflix, and Candy Crush. 

The ban will come into force immediately, the Ministry of Public Sector Transformation and the Civil Service wrote on Twitter on Friday (March 24).

“In order to guarantee the cybersecurity of our administrations and civil servants, the government has decided to ban recreational applications such as TikTok on the professional phones of civil servants,” Stanislas Guerini said on Friday.

The global social media giant has been criticised and questioned by numerous governments worldwide, including those in the US and the UK.

The video-sharing app, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, has also been banned from UK Government phones over security reasons. 

US lawmakers confirmed this week that they’re moving forward with plans for a national ban on the app, prompting users including Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to take to the app to protest the proposed ban.

For years, American officials have raised concerns that data from the popular app could fall into the hands of the Chinese government.

The US legislation would give the US commerce department new powers to ban TikTok and “other foreign-based technologies if they pose national security threats”.

While ByteDance has tried its best to settle lawsuits and appease concerns, some nations have decided to ban it either totally or partially. 

Here is a comprehensive look at all the countries that have banned TikTok.

United Kingdom

TikTok was banned from UK government phones on March 16.

Security minister Tom Tugendhat had told Sky News he had asked the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) to look into the app. He said it was “absolutely essential” to keep the UK’s “diplomatic processes free and safe”.

United States

New legislation has been backed that would see a nationwide ban of the platform but fears were also raised last month.

On February 28, the US government revealed that it had ordered all of its federal employees to remove TikTok from their government-issued phones to protect confidential data. 

A spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry criticised the move, saying: “We firmly oppose those wrong actions. The US government should respect the principles of market economy and fair competition, stop suppressing the companies, and provide an open, fair, and non-discriminatory environment for foreign companies in the US.”

They added: “How unsure of itself can the world’s top superpower like the US be to fear young people’s favourite app like that.”