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No plans to ban TikTok in Samoa

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Source: Samoa Observer

Apia, SAMOAThe Government will not ban the popular social media application, TikTok, following the New Zealand Government's ban on the application on all government devices.

The Government will not ban the popular social media application, TikTok, following the New Zealand Government's ban on the application on all government devices.

In an email correspondence with the Samoa Observer, the Chief Executive Officer (C.E.O.) of the Ministry of Communication, Information and Technology (M.C.I.T.), Lefaoalii Unutoa Auelua Fonoti said Samoa like other sovereign countries would always discuss best practices and mechanisms to best protect and keep citizens safe.

This newspaper queried the C.E.O. whether the government would consider banning the viral application given that New Zealand has taken the first step amidst fears of cyber security breaches to ban the app from its government devices.

"Tik Tok like other social media such as Meta, are given the same treatment. Meta and Tik Tok have provided very useful opportunities for keeping the business community connected with their customers and have reduced costs on marketing and transportation," she said.

Due to security concerns, New Zealand’s parliament has banned TikTok from all parliamentary devices, amid mounting international security concerns surrounding the Chinese-owned video-sharing app.

Meanwhile, Samoans are embracing the Chinese-made video-sharing application, despite the social networking program coming under scrutiny, and being labelled a security threat.

Some Samoan users also include church ministers and their wives using the app for fun contents while some also use the app for negative exposures including Samoan seasonal workers' exposing extra marital affairs.

Some countries and regions that have implemented partial or total bans on TikTok include India which imposed a ban on TikTok as well as other Chinese apps such as WeChat in 2020 over privacy and security concerns.

Taiwan also has a public sector ban on TikTok after the FBI warned that TikTok posed a national security risk and government devices, including mobile phones, tablets and desktop computers, are not allowed to use Chinese-made software, which include apps like TikTok, its Chinese equivalent Douyin, or Xiaohongshu, a Chinese lifestyle content app.

Read more at Samoa Observer