Parliament shuts TikTok account after MPs’ fears over firm’s links to China

MPs say decision about ‘standing up for our values and protecting our data’

Parliament has shut its TikTok account after MPs raised concerns about the social media firm’s Chinese links.

A number of MPs hit by Chinese sanctions for speaking out against “gross human rights violations” had protested against the recent creation of the social media account.

A UK Parliament spokesman said: “Based on Member feedback, we are closing the pilot UK Parliament TikTok account earlier than we had planned.”

“The account was a pilot initiative while we tested the platform as a way of reaching younger audiences with relevant content about Parliament.”

TikTok’s parent firm ByteDance is based in China. A number of British MPs have previously raised concerns about user data from the app being sent to Beijing.

The company has denied that. Theo Bertram, the app’s vice president for government relations and public policy in Europe, told MPs in July “we have never been asked to provide TikTok user data to the Chinese government, nor would we if asked”.

Nus Ghani, one the the Tory MPs sanctioned, thanked the speaker of the Commons and the House of Lords for intervening and “standing up for our values and protecting our data”.

Former Conservative party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith also welcomed the decision, which followed pressure from the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China.

He told the PA news agency: “We are pleased that Parliament, immediately they were told, understood there was a problem and shut it down.

“It’s important for others to look at that now and we need to start talking to people about not using TikTok.”