How Many Countries Have Banned TikTok?

Taiwan bans government and public employees on from installing and using official devices.

The Office of the Chief Administrative Officer emails all members of the House of Representatives and their staffers to inform them that TikTok is not allowed on U.S. government devices.

The European Commission, the executive arm of the 27 countries in the European Union, banned its roughly 32,000 employees from using TikTok on government devices as well as on personal devices that use government apps and email.

Canada banned TikTok from all government devices and did not rule out further action against the Chinese-owned app. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canadians would likely “reflect” on what the government ban means for “the security of their own data and perhaps make choices.”

In a Twitter post, Latvian Foreign Minister said that he had deleted TikTok on his phone and announced that the foreign ministry was now prohibited from using the app.

After the Danish Center for Cyber Security determined that TikTok posed a risk a espionage, the country’s defense ministry banned the use of the app on its employees’ devices. Days later on March 10, Denmark’s public broadcaster, DR, also blocked TikTok on its workers’ phones.

Belgian Prime Minister Alexander de Croo bans TikTok on government devices, citing warnings from the country’s security service and cybersecurity center. In a statement, De Croo stated that Belgium could not be naive and pointed out that TikTok is obligated to cooperate with Chinese intelligence services.

The UK banned TikTok on government devices effective immediately after initially stating it wouldn’t follow other governments and leave the decision up to individual officials. Cabinet Office minister Oliver Dowden said the move was “proportionate” based on the “specific risk with government devices.

The Parliament of New Zealand informed its members that TikTok would be banned on parliamentary devicesat the end of the month, stating that “the risks are not acceptable in the current New Zealand parliament environment.”

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the transatlantic military alliance of 30 nations, including the U.S., barred its staffers from downloading TikTok on their work devices in late March. The app was already nearly unusable on NATO devices because of cybersecurity restrictions placed on employees of the coalition, but that prohibition became official policy with an email sent to all staffers on March 31.

“Cybersecurity is a top priority for NATO. NATO has robust requirements for determining applications for official business use. TikTok is not accessible on NATO devices,” a senior NATO official told CNN.

The ban came a week after TikTok’s CEO testified before in hopes of convincing lawmakers not to ban the app. It did not go well.