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Latest news, international – Referencing the US government’s ban on the TikTok app, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson revealed that Washington had abused state power and overruled national security.

China itself has long blocked a slew of foreign social media platforms and messaging apps, including YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

“The US government has gone beyond the concept of national security and abused state power to pressure companies from other countries,” Mao Ning told a daily news forum on Tuesday ( 28/2). “How afraid can the United States, the world’s first superpower, be of the young people’s favorite app?”

As reported by The gardians, The White House gave all federal agencies 30 days, in a directive issued Monday, to remove TikTok from all government agencies. The White House no longer allows TikTok on its devices.

TikTok is used by two-thirds of American teenagers, but Washington fears China could use its legal and regulatory powers to obtain users’ personal data or to try to spread misinformation or pro-China narratives.

Congress and more than half of US states have so far banned TikTok from government-issued mobile devices.

Some have also implemented a ban for any app or website owned by ByteDance, the private Chinese company that owns TikTok and moved its headquarters to Singapore in 2020.

Washington and Beijing are at odds over a range of issues, including trade, computer chips and other technology, national security and Taiwan, as well as the discovery of a suspected Chinese spy balloon over the United States and its downing at the beginning of the month.

On Monday, Canada announced its decision to join the United States in banning TikTok from all government-issued mobile devices.

“I suspect that when the government makes the important decision to inform all federal employees that they can no longer use TikTok on their phones at work, many Canadians, from businesses to individuals, will consider the security of their own data and do maybe a choice,” Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau told reporters after the announcement.

Finance Council of Canada chair Mona Fortier says Canada’s chief information officer has designated TikTok as a platform with an unacceptable level of privacy and security risk.

“On mobile devices, TikTok’s data collection methods provide tremendous access to mobile content,” Fortier said.

The app will be removed from Canadian government-issued phones on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the executive branch of the European Union said last week that it had temporarily banned TikTok from phones used by employees as a cybersecurity measure.

TikTok has questioned the ban, saying it hasn’t had a chance to answer questions and the government is cutting itself off from the platform loved by millions.