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Taoiseach says Govt seeking expert advice on TikTok after UK bans app on work devices

Fine Gael’s Colm Markey has written to the Taoiseach and the Ceann Comhairle urging them to ban TikTok from government-issued phones.

TAOISEACH LEO VARADKAR has said the Government is seeking advice from cyber experts on the Chinese-owned video app TikTok after the UK announced a ban on the app on government devices. 

The move followed similar action by the European Union, the United States and Canada in recent months.

Western powers have been taking an increasingly tough approach to the app, citing fears that user data could be used or abused by Chinese officials.

Asked by The Journal whether the Government was considering a similar move, Varadkar, speaking in Washington, said: “We have requested advice from the National Center for Cybersecurity on TikTok.

“As things stand, we’re not advising anybody in the public sector or in government to remove TikTok from their work phones, but that is still under review,” he said.

UK Cabinet Office minister Oliver Dowden told parliament today that the British government would move to ban TikTok on government devices “with immediate effect”. 

TikTok has said it is “disappointed” with the UK Government’s decision.

“We believe these bans have been based on fundamental misconceptions and driven by wider geopolitics, in which TikTok, and our millions of users in the UK, play no part,” a spokesperson said.

“We remain committed to working with the (UK) Government to address any concerns but should be judged on facts and treated equally to our competitors.

“We have begun implementing a comprehensive plan to further protect our European user data, which includes storing UK user data in our European data centres and tightening data access controls, including third-party independent oversight of our approach.”

Fine Gael’s Colm Markey has written to both the Taoiseach and the Ceann Comhairle urging them to ban TikTok from government-issued phones. 

“Ireland is behind the curve on this issue,” Markey said. 

“The European Parliament, European Commission, the USA, Canada, Belgium, and now the UK are banning TikTok from official devices due to cybersecurity concerns,” Markey said. 

“I called for a similar ban in Ireland last week and have since written to the Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl and the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar urging them to take action,” he said. 

Markey said TikTok has been in communication with him, adding: “I recognise their efforts to be more transparent, however, we still don’t have a clear guarantee that private data is not being sent to China.” 

US ultimatum 

Earlier, TikTok confirmed that US officials recommended that the app part ways with its Chinese parent ByteDance to avoid a national ban.

Earlier, a TikTok spokesperson told AFP: “If protecting national security is the objective, calls for a ban or divestment are unnecessary, as neither option solves the broader industry issues of data access and transfer.

“We remain confident that the best path forward to addressing concerns about national security is transparent, US-based protection of US user data and systems, with robust third-party monitoring, vetting, and verification.”

The Wall Street Journal and other US news outlets yesterday reported that the White House set an ultimatum: if TikTok remains a part of ByteDance, it will be banned in the United States.

“This is all a game of high stakes poker,” Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said in a note to investors.

Washington is “clearly … putting more pressure on ByteDance to strategically sell this key asset in a major move that could have significant ripple impacts,” he continued.

The White House last week welcomed a bill introduced in the US Senate that would allow President Joe Biden to ban TikTok.

The bipartisan bill “would empower the United States government to prevent certain foreign governments from exploiting technology services… in a way that poses risks to Americans’ sensitive data and our national security,” Biden’s national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, said in a statement.

The bill’s introduction and its quick White House backing accelerated the political momentum against TikTok, which is also the target of a separate piece of legislation in the US House of Representatives.

Appearing tough on China is one of the rare issues with potential for bipartisan support in both the Republican-run House and the Senate, where Biden’s Democratic Party holds the majority.

Concern ramped up among American officials earlier this year after a Chinese balloon, which Washington alleged was on a spy mission, flew over US airspace.

TikTok use rocketing

TikTok claims it has more than a billion users worldwide including over 100 million in the United States, where it has become a cultural force, especially among young people.

Activists argue a ban would be an attack on free speech, and stifle the export of American culture and values to TikTok users around the world.

US government workers in January were banned from installing TikTok on their government-issued devices.

Civil servants in the European Union and Canada are also barred from downloading the app on their work devices.

According to the Journal report, the ultimatum to TikTok came from the US interagency board charged with assessing risks foreign investments represent to national security.

US officials declined to comment on the report.

TikTok has consistently denied sharing data with Chinese officials, and says it has been working with the US authorities for more than two years to address national security concerns.

Time spent by users on TikTok has surpassed that spent on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram or Twitter and is closing in on streaming television titan Netflix, according to market tracker Insider Intelligence.

With reporting by Press Association and - © AFP 2023 

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20 Comments
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    Mute Itiswhatitis
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    Apr 22nd 2013, 8:15 PM

    Another sad tale of the irish economy in ruins. I totally feel for all workers.

    Probably usual bullsh*t response from government a task force will be setup blah blah

    197
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    Mute brian magee
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    Apr 22nd 2013, 8:29 PM

    They mainly exported so pre to do with global economy in ruins rather than the Irish, but why would you miss an opportunity to knock our libel country

    68
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    Mute brian magee
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    Apr 22nd 2013, 8:30 PM

    Libel meant to read lovely . Stupid predictive text

    31
    See 13 more replies ▾
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    Mute OU812
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    Apr 22nd 2013, 8:38 PM

    I agree with the sentiment, however, I don’t think people fully realise just how screwed we are here. The only reason the live register numbers are going down is the fact there’s so many emigrating.

    164
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    Mute Quentin Collins
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    Apr 22nd 2013, 8:44 PM

    Itswhatitis
    What would you like the Government to do? Set up a competitor company to the one that closed or pretend that the decision wasn’t made and keep laying the employees from Troika funds or alternatively accept what is happening as a norm in business and get on with the good job they’re doing to attract new investment.
    If prospective overseas investors were to see these pages and assumed that the whingers and moaners on here are typical of the Irish workforce they’d be gone quicker than shit from a goose!

    64
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    Mute Thomas O'Donoghue
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    Apr 22nd 2013, 9:23 PM

    Leave the euro. That is what the gov could do. This coy has relocated to ohio because of costs. What is particularly worrying is that our low corporate tax did not prove a sufficient reason to stay. It’s also a vote of no confidence in the wider euro economy.

    62
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    Mute Michael Roughan
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    Apr 22nd 2013, 9:31 PM

    On the day the government unveil their master plan to create 20,000 jobs in manufacturing by 2016. Even China is moving away from manufacturing cuz they can’t compete with the cheaper labour, etc of countries like Vietnam and the slow down in demand globally. So what the hell are we going to make that their is going to be such huge demand? Hurleys?

    62
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    Mute Leslie Alan Rock
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    Apr 22nd 2013, 9:33 PM

    Kevin shaw…Richard and Paddy rogers..dilcos…how much per pseudonym do fg pay you?

    49
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    Mute padser123
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    Apr 22nd 2013, 10:05 PM

    Hey Quentin, what would happen to these 79 workers if it were in the Pu/S? That’s right ‘pretend’ it didn’t happen…..and redeploy them to oh…..I’dunno push the chair of the Ceann Comhairle, under his arse or and then serve him cheap booze in the Dail bar!

    Sure enough, ‘prospective overseas investors’ would hope we didn’t all want the same treatment!

    37
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    Mute Michael Roughan
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    Apr 22nd 2013, 11:23 PM

    Where are the FG trolls? I thought Enda and ” friends” would be all over this.
    Keeping a lid on it, trying to tell us it never really happen.
    According to FG figures employment is up by . 00000001% based on latest data, but does not take in account emigration, people put on courses, job bridge, etc.
    so looks like everything is honky dorky in the FG world of aliens

    22
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    Mute John Appleby
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    Apr 23rd 2013, 2:57 AM

    Don’t be talking shite Paddy – thousands of Irish are leaving to work in Canada, Australia etc. Those countries don’t complain about the Irish taking their jobs. They welcome people that work and contribute to their country’s economy. When are we going to stop blaming the cock ups our government did on foreign workers? The fact that people like you are listening to dick heads like David Cameron isn’t helping. Ireland’s mess has nothing to do with foreign workers working here. Wake up !!!

    25
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    Mute Patrick Gormley
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    Apr 23rd 2013, 12:30 PM

    I don’t think you really need to resort to using bad language to get your point across.Shows sign of immaturity or ignorance or perhaps both. Anyway , to address your comment, Canada and Australia welcome Irish immigrant workers because they NEED them , unlike here in Ireland , where the case is , we have a massive unemployment problem. All I asked was , just how many workers at this factory were Irish ? ….We should give Irish jobs to Irish people FIRST, then others afterwards. It’ s the only way to keep our fathers,mothers and children at home instead of emigrating and breaking up the family unit. But no, we seem to welcome with open arms all these immigrants into our country and offer /allow them to take ” jobs” that locals should be compelled our incentivised to do, instead of going on the dole for god knows how long. By the way, David Cameron was not on the programme,nor was he even referred to. Britain is tackling the forthcoming ” problem”, unlike our lot ,ŵho have thier head in the sand hoping it will all blow away. Let me just say , I am not anti immigrant , just a realist who is PRO Irish . It just makes sense to support our own workers.

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    Mute padser123
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    Apr 23rd 2013, 12:39 PM

    Remember you ain’t Irish anymore…..Ur European!

    5
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    Mute John Appleby
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    Apr 23rd 2013, 1:40 PM

    I still fail to understand where you’re coming from. If that company employed 20 foreigners out of the 79 then only 59 irish jobs were lost. Does that make you feel any better? Did the company close down because it employed those foreigners? Would it still be running at a massive profit if all its workers were Irish?
    My question is – why does a company that has 1 vacancy prefer to employ a foreigner? The answer has nothing to do with lower wages ( before you go there ). The answer is simply because the foreigner has come here to work – and work is what he does. We, on the other hand, are not the world record holders of doing an honest days work. We show up on Mondays (hopefully) usually 15 minutes late, looking like we’ve been hit by a bus and do what we do best – whinge and whine.
    Five years ago, if all the foreign workers decided to leave Ireland on the same day, the country would have ground to a shuddering halt in 5 minutes flat. The same probably applies today.
    Our government isn’t saying – look lads, we’re creating thousands of jobs but all the foreigners are taking them.

    1
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    Mute Patrick Gormley
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    Apr 23rd 2013, 4:56 PM

    You try a get a job in front of a local in any other country in the EU and see how you get on …only good old Eire puts its own down to the bottom of the pile when offering ” jobs”

    1
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    Mute John Appleby
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    Apr 23rd 2013, 5:21 PM

    …. and my previous post explains why that is.

    1
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    Mute Orla Geary Doyle
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    Apr 22nd 2013, 9:53 PM

    my husband works there we have a 3year old and a baby on the way and of course a mortgage im sickened by this country and the government not giving a damn about the normal people tying to earn a living im so upset for the poor guys my heart is broke for them

    196
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    Mute Cathal
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    Apr 22nd 2013, 9:03 PM

    My brother works in that company. He said that some people were crying today when they were told.
    We will have the usual FFG/Labour supporters on this site, slamming these workers, when they cant pay their mortgages or bank loans ina few months time, making comments like ‘they shouldn’t have taken out loans they couldnt afford’ like the other 430,000 unemployed.
    I am sick and tired of listening to these commenters defend the indefensible.

    164
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    Mute Sean Hyland
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    Apr 23rd 2013, 8:57 AM

    To think we breathe the same air as people who red thumb the above comments. I reckon 20% of the population are psychopaths.

    18
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    Mute Dennis Meredith
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    Apr 22nd 2013, 8:39 PM

    So now they need to create 20,079 jobs… Even BIGGER quango needed…

    81
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    Mute Sheik Yahbouti
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    Apr 22nd 2013, 8:19 PM

    Is this part of the government’s new plan to ‘create’ twenty thousand jobs in manufacturing?

    69
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    Mute B9xiRspG
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    Apr 22nd 2013, 8:43 PM

    20079 now!

    44
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    Mute Leslie Alan Rock
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    Apr 22nd 2013, 8:24 PM

    Vote yes for jobs.

    53
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    Mute john g mcgrath
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    Apr 22nd 2013, 10:19 PM

    Don’t forget the growth and stability mantra !!!!

    21
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    Mute Leslie Alan Rock
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    Apr 22nd 2013, 11:11 PM

    Sorry John didn’t see your comment til now…i had turned the corner….couldn’t see it.

    20
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    Mute bob®
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    Apr 22nd 2013, 8:50 PM

    400 new jobs are to be created by blah in 306 outlets in 2 counties over the next 12 years in high end IT,46.3% of these gifted positions will be out-sourced in the coming days and “local”placement will begin early 2016, the government had announced! Phew, thank you government, your the bestest!

    47
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    Mute Donal Lynch
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    Apr 22nd 2013, 10:18 PM

    I can hear Gilmore “Lisbon 2 is all about jobs , jobs , jobs ” tell that to these people today

    36
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    Mute FlopFlipU
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    Apr 22nd 2013, 10:21 PM

    We are mushrooms we are being kept in the dark and covered in shite the real truth is the government
    don’t know what they are doing , we are just an experiment for the Germans and Enda is the overseer

    29
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    Mute Liam Francis
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    Apr 22nd 2013, 10:19 PM

    The Government, The Government, it’s always the Governments fault, whether it was FF/FG/SF or any coalition it would have been their fault that this company’s falling sales has meant cutbacks in their operations.

    23
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    Mute Dave Byrne
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    Apr 22nd 2013, 11:32 PM

    Have you proof of the company sales falling?

    13
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    Mute James Lane
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    Apr 23rd 2013, 10:34 PM

    What I wonder is why did none of the print media or RTE carry this story. Is it not front line news anymore when a factory closes with the loss of all jobs. Mmmmmm strange that.

    3
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