Denmark’s parliament urged politicians and staff to remove the TikTok app from their work phones as a cybersecurity measure, saying “there is a spying risk.”
The popular video-sharing app, which is owned by Chinese authorities, is facing heightened scrutiny in Europe and the United States over security and data privacy amid concerns that TikTok could be used to promote pro-Beijing views or sweep up users’ information.
Danish parliamentary speaker Soren Gade said an email had been sent out on Tuesday to the 179 members of parliament and to staff with “a strong recommendation that you remove the TikTok app if you have previously installed it.”
Parliament acted after an assessment from Denmark’s Center for Cyber Security, who had said there was a risk of espionage. The agency is part of Denmark’s foreign intelligence service.
“We are adapting accordingly,” Gade said in a statement.
It was not immediately known how many Danish MPs have TikTok installed. In recent days, several politicians have publicly announced that they have removed the app from their work phone for cyber security reasons.
Earlier this month, the EU executive said it has temporarily banned TikTok from phones used by employees as a cybersecurity measure.
The EU’s action follows similar moves in the US, where more than half of the country’s 50 states and Congress have banned TikTok from official government entities.
In Norway, which is not a member of the 27-nation EU, the justice minister was forced to apologize this month for not disclosing that she had installed TikTok on her government-issued phone.