Who Dares Deletes...Special Forces commandos have been ordered to remove TikTok from their military-issue mobiles.
Troops serving in the SAS, the SBS the Special Reconnaissance Regiment and the Defence Human Intelligence Unit have all been warned data from the Chinese-owned app could fall into the hands of Beijing spies.
It is understood the warning was issued by the UK Special Forces Group’s intelligence and security unit.
Security experts working alongside British special forces fear the app could provide countries like China and Russia with data which could help identify members of the special forces, covert locations within the UK and abroad and even compromise ongoing operations.
Britain’s special forces work very closely with members of MI5 and MI6, especially on foreign intelligence gathering operations in hostile environments but also in friendly countries.
The disclosure follows similar bans in the US and Canada and parts of the EU preventing TikTok from being installed on all government-issued mobile devices.
The EU’s executive branch has temporarily banned TikTok from phones used by employees as a cybersecurity measure.
On Tuesday, the European parliament followed suit, banning staff from installing the app on any phone that had access to email or parliamentary networks.
In the US, more than half of the states and Congress have banned TikTok from official government devices.
The White House widened the ban to include all government agencies, giving federal employees 30 days to remove the app from their work devices.
