Chinese social networking service TikTok's logo on a smartphone screen.
On Thursday while appearing before Parliament, Interior Cabinet Secretary Kithure Kindiki said that the government of Kenya would seek to restrict TikTok use by public officials.
This pronouncement has elicited debate, especially on whether this could extend to the rest of the population as well as other social media platforms.
The proposal by Kindiki while surprising to many reflects a global debate on Tiktok’s data security.
By proposing a ban on public officials, the Kenyan government prioritises data security and minimizes potential risks.
This reflects a growing trend of governments being cautious about the influence of social media platforms on sensitive information.
There are many reasons why most governments have been apprehensive about the use of TikTok by public officials, especially on state-issued devices.
There is no clear consensus on the exact level of risk.
Some experts view it as a potential tool for influence campaigns or espionage, while others see it as fear-mongering.
One of the major concerns related to data collection, where like many social media platforms, TikTok collects a wide range of user data, including browsing history, location and potentially biometric identifiers such as facial recognition.
Related to this is that TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, is a Chinese firm.
Many critics fear the Chinese government could pressure ByteDance to hand over user data, raising national security concerns in countries like Kenya.
This fear stems from the fact that China has laws allowing the government to access data from companies operating within its borders.
The company maintains that it has never shared user data with the Chinese government and would not do so even if requested.
However, there is also a concern that the location of user data storage remains unclear.
Kenya would not be alone when it actualises that ban proposed by Kindiki. The European Parliament, the European Commission and the EU Council have all banned the use of TikTok on devices they issue to staff.
Legislators and staff have also been advised to remove the app from their personal devices.
Belgium and Canada have also Belgium banned TikTok from government phones over worries about cybersecurity, privacy and misinformation.
In the UK, authorities have banned TikTok from mobile phones used by government ministers and civil servants while in France, the ban extends to X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram.
The US government has expressed concerns about data security risks posed by TikTok and though a ban proposed by the trump administration never materialised, there is a lot of scrutiny on the app.
In 2020, India banned TikTok and several other Chinese apps amid escalating tensions between the two countries.
The ban was attributed to concerns over data security and sovereignty, as well as broader geopolitical tensions.
Australian lawmakers have raised concerns about TikTok's data security practices and its potential implications for national security.
While no ban has been implemented, there have been calls for greater scrutiny and regulation of the platform.
