The popularity of TikTok has grown massively worldwide with the bump coming in early 2020. The ByteDance-owned app has been downloaded nearly 5 billion times with over 770 million global downloads. The app was valued at $84.2 billion last year.
It was the fifth most popular social media platform right behind Meta’s apps and YouTube regarding monthly active users. But now hypothetical concerns about its owner’s close ties to Beijing threaten the app’s claims of independence which raise fears of spying and propaganda in select countries across the globe.
Just last week, the U.S. House passed a TikTok divesture bill with a one-year sale deadline or be completely banned. Different from the bill passed last month, the lawmakers attached this new bill to the foreign aid bill for Ukraine, Israel, and Gaza which ultimately means that the Senate will find it harder to stall.
If the bill is passed under the vote, it will be presented to Biden who has shown commitment to ban the app and completely shut down the social media platform in the U.S.
Here’s a list of countries that have enacted total and partial bans on the app:
Europe
- EU: The EU Council, the European Parliament and the European Commission have barred the app from being installed on staff and personal devices.
- Belgium: The app has been banned from being downloaded on government phones
- France: The French government has banned TikTok, Twitter, and Instagram from being installed on staff devices.
- U.K: In Britain, the app has been banned from being installed on government staff devices including ministers and civil servants.
- Norway: The Norwegian parliament banned the app from being installed on government-issued devices.
- The Netherlands: The country’s interior ministry has barred the use of apps made by China, Russia, Iran and North Korea on government staff devices.
- Estonia: The app has been banned on government devices
- Denmark: TikTok has been banned on official government devices
North America
- Canada: TikTok has been banned from being installed on government staff devices
- The U.S.: The app has been banned from being downloaded on federal and government staff devices including contractors across 34 states. State universities have also banned the app on institution devices and Wifi networks.
Asia
- India: India banned the app across the nation in 2020
- Afghanistan: The app was banned in 2022
- Taiwan: The app was banned in 2022. TikTok and other apps made in China are barred from being installed on government-issued devices.
- Nepal: The app was banned nationwide
- Pakistan: The app has been banned since 2020
Australia and New Zealand
Australia and New Zealand have banned the app from being installed on government staff devices including lawmakers.
Africa
- Senegal: Complete ban
- Somalia: Complete ban
- There have been calls for the app to be banned in Kenya, Uganda and Egypt. In Kenya, the ICT Principal Secretary John Tanui wants efforts to focus on strict regulation with quarterly reports.
