Joe Hindy / Android Authority
TL;DR
- TikTok is facing more trouble in Europe.
- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hinted that a ban is possible during a debate.
- Other candidates at the debate were more noncommittal about the possibility.
TikTok has been having a rough go as of late. Just last week, President Joe Biden signed a bill to force ByteDance to sell the video-sharing platform or be banned in the US. Now the European Commission is floating around the idea on banning the iOS and Android app in the EU.
Politico reports that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said “It is not excluded” during a debate for the Commission’s 2024 election. This was in response to a question from a moderator referencing the looming TikTok ban in the US.
Von der Leyen continued on to add that the Commission was “the very first institution worldwide to ban TikTok on our corporate phones” and that “We know exactly the danger of TikTok.” Other candidates participating in the debate were reluctant to go as far as von der Leyen, with one party leader stating we have to see “what happens there.”
The Commission also has its eyes on TikTok after the company launched a feature in Europe that would compensate users for engaging with the TikTok Lite app. Commission executives argue that TikTok did not provide an adequate response to questions from regulators about TikTok Lite’s impact on user mental health before launching the app. TikTok has since suspended its rewards program in the region, but it still faces a probe for potentially violating the EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA).
