Philippines launches TikTok ‘threat assessment’ as it considers partial ban

“The proposal to ban TikTok is simply for the security sector because many, many countries in the world have already banned TikTok in government devices,” the council’s Assistant Director Jonathan Malaya told reporters on Tuesday.

National Security Adviser Eduardo Ano established a task force “to create a threat assessment” that “hopefully would be finished within the year,” Malaya said, so that a decision on a potential ban can be made “very soon”. He said the possible TikTok ban would not cover the general public.

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Malaya earlier said the threat of data collection or cyberespionage was the reason behind the move to create a task force to consider banning the popular social-media platform on government security devices.

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“Before, they [TikTok] were not compliant, they didn’t have the permit. Now they are taking care of it,” deputy trade minister Jerry Sambuaga was quoted saying by Antara on Tuesday.

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He said a partnership with a local firm could be done providing it was in accordance with regulations.

TikTok did not immediately respond to request for comment regarding the deputy minister’s remarks.