can-the-eu-impose-a-blanket-ban-on-tiktok

To begin with, India was the biggest market for TikTok, which was owned by a China-based company ByteDance. It was in 2020, when the Indian government imposed a ban on it, including 58 other Chinese apps. Following this, several other countries also expressed their desire to ban the application.

 

TikTok started to make headlines in 2024 again because in March, the United States passed a bill for the app’s developer to divest from the Chinese company or face a complete ban. Eyeing security measures, the White House has extended support to the bill.

 

Although ByteDance has denied leaking data to the Chinese government, security concerns keep lingering. It has been learnt that if the bill is turned into a law, the Chinese company will have six months to sell TikTok or a blanket ban will be imposed on the application.

 

After India imposed a ban, the European Union, too, expressed security concerns over usage of the app. And in 2023, the EU banned the application from the devices of European Parliament, European Commission and EU council members.

 

The manner in which the US has come up with an ultimatum for the TikTok, can the EU do the same? There are several reasons which give rise to this speculation. Unlike the US, the EU has certain regulations in place which allow the European Commission to secure data and control technology usage. However, it does not allow it to completely ban them. Digital Markets Act (DMA), Digital Services Act (DSA) and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) are some of these provisions.

 

Both DSA and DMA aim to create a safe digital space, thereby protecting the fundamental rights of the users and a fair playing field for businesses. The acts aim to foster innovation, growth and competitiveness.

 

The DSA primarily caters to online platforms and search engines. These platforms are liable to abide by the rules of the DSA. Whereas, the DMA are gatekeeper online platforms that function as bottlenecks between businesses and consumers for important digital services.

 

Since the idea of both these acts also involves a fair and open online platform environment, when it comes to banning apps on the pretext of probable safety measures, it sounds odd and also ‘unfair’. This is exactly the case of TikTok. There are no foolproof findings that TikTok will leak user’s data. However, the possibility of it also cannot be entirely denied.

 

Another measure known as the GDPR is hailed as the toughest privacy and security law in the world. Although the law was formed and passed by the EU, it imposes obligations on organisations that are prone to collect data of people belonging to the EU.

 

Moreover, delving deep into the prospects of a blanket ban on TikTok, countries that come under the EU have their own set of laws and viewpoints when it comes to national security. And it is up to the individual nations to decide for themselves.

 

This underscores that individual countries can ban TikTok. However, just like the US, the EU cannot make the decision which concerns other countries that fall under its ambit.

 

If we look at the US, the bill has just been passed. It is yet to get a green signal from the Congress after which it will be sent for President Joe Biden’s signature.

 

When a country bans such apps citing security threats from China, it shows that any platform that is owned by a Chinese organisation is liable to breach security and trust. 

 

Moreover, from the point of view of nationhood, one also needs to ponder whether these security issues are restricted to mere legal problems or might pose a serious threat to the nation’s security.

 

Standing at a juncture where we do not know whether the US will be able to formulate a law on this or the EU will find a mid-way to deal with the threat, the hope remains that TikTok will sever ties with the Chinese-owned company and provide assurance regarding privacy concerns.