UK Parliament blocks TikTok on staff devices and wifi network

The UK Parliament is to ban the Chinese-owned video-sharing app TikTok from “all parliamentary devices and the wider parliamentary network”.

Last week, the UK government announced a ban of the app on government officials mobiles phones and devices.

A parliament spokesperson said on Thursday: “Following the government’s decision to ban TikTok from government devices, the commissions of both the House of Commons and Lords have decided that TikTok will be blocked from all parliamentary devices and the wider parliamentary network.

“Cybersecurity is a top priority for parliament. However we do not comment on specific details of our cyber or physical security controls, policies or incidents.”

It is understood the ban means MPs and visitors to Parliament will not be able to access TikTok on devices connected to official wifi channels. Users will need to use their own mobile data to use the app.

The Scottish government also announced on Thursday it will join the Welsh government in banning the app from official devices.