The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has raised the possibility of imposing a ban on TikTok within the European Union, according to Politico.
Von der Leyen made these remarks during debates held in Maastricht, where leading candidates from various parties for the 2024 elections participated.
"It is not excluded," von der Leyen said in response to the moderator's reference to the United States, where TikTok is currently subject to a national ban unless its owner, ByteDance, sells it.
She added that the European Commission was "the very first institution worldwide to ban TikTok on our corporate phones."
"We know exactly the danger of TikTok," said the President of the European Commission.
TikTok in the EU
Recently, TikTok suspended payments to users for interacting with the TikTok Lite app, following an investigation by the European Commission into this feature under the EU's content moderation law.
Additionally, a separate investigation into TikTok is ongoing within the framework of the Digital Services Act (DSA), concerning its alleged failure to protect minors. According to the DSA, the European Commission can, as a last resort, order the temporary suspension of the service.
TikTok Ban in the US
On April 24, 2024, the fate of TikTok in the US hung in the balance: President Joe Biden signed a law giving the Chinese company ByteDance, which owns the platform, 270 days to find an American buyer.
Otherwise, the popular app could be banned in the country.
This new law marks an escalation of tensions between the US and China over data collection and usage. The US government has long expressed concerns that the personal information of American users on TikTok could be accessible to the Chinese government.
