Logo drawn by Tiktok
Federal Interior Minister Faeser has called for particular vigilance when using the video app Tiktok, which is as successful as it is controversial. But a ban would be ‘not proportionate’.
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) has called for particular vigilance when using the video app Tiktok, which is as successful as it is controversial. “You have to explain very clearly that this is a company that is state-owned and where the data can of course also leak,” said Faeser on Wednesday during a visit to the US capital Washington. It is also important to pay attention to what “political messages” are being sent on Tiktok and whether there is “propaganda”.
Faeser emphasized that the app, which belongs to the Chinese Internet giant Bytedance, had “never been allowed” on the federal administration’s official mobile phones for security reasons. A general ban on the app would be “not proportionate”.
In the United States and many other countries, there are massive data protection concerns and fears that the Chinese state will have access to Tiktok user data. The US government has threatened to ban the app if it doesn’t separate from Bytedance.
Tiktok denies sharing user data with Chinese authorities. Tiktok boss Shou Zi Chew will have to answer questions from members of a congressional committee in Washington on Thursday.
Faeser arrived in the United States on Tuesday for a three-day visit. She placed particular emphasis on the fight against sexualised violence against children.
There is an “incredibly close cooperation” with the USA, said the minister on Wednesday. “The United States is helping us very specifically in fighting this disgusting form of crime by providing us with data, and based on this data we can also solve these cases and find the perpetrators and also arrest them.”
With a view to the necessary comparison of IP addresses from Internet users, Faeser was optimistic about an agreement in the dispute over data retention. “I am sure that I will come to an agreement with the FDP.” The problem is that Internet providers would not store the data “for that long,” said the SPD politician.
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