Will the Philippines ban TikTok? | ABS-CBN

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Will the Philippines ban TikTok?

Will the Philippines ban TikTok?

ABS-CBN News

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Will TikTok be banned in the Philippines?

Talk of a possible TikTok ban has been rife amid fears that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) can use the social media app for spying or propaganda.

National Security Council assistant director general Jonathan Malaya earlier said a TikTok ban could be imposed on government-owned devices including cellphones of those in the security sector.

“Siguro if there is a need for banning, it will not be for public school teachers, it will not be for the civilians, but it will be for the armed personnel. We should seriously consider for the security sector alone," he said in a forum.

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Scam Watch Pilipinas co-convenor Art Samaniego said several countries have already banned TikTok including Australia, New Zealand, Belgium and most recently Nepal.

"Na-summarize sa sinabi ng Belgium 'yung dahilan bakit nila bina-ban ang TikTok sa mga government issued telephone and devices. Sabi niya, kasi, ito raw ay galing sa China at alam nila na pwedeng gamitin ito ng China," he said in a TeleRadyo Serbisyo interview.

"Ang pinanggagalingan nito 'yung national intelligence law ng China na ginawa nung 2017 na nagsasabi sa section 4 na obligado ang lahat ng mga Chinese citizen, kumpanya, agency, at ibang entity na suportahan ang national intelligence work ng China."

"Tapos sa section 14, nagsasabi na kailangang ma-obliga at may karapatan ang Chinese government hingin ang cooperation ng mga nabanggit na entities. Ibig sahihin nito, pwede silang mag-report sa China."

In the interview, Samaniego backed a TikTok ban on government agencies, saying government personnel should not be using TikTok during work hours.

He added that TikTok collects a user's location, phone number and even websites visited. While the same information is collected by other social media apps such as Facebook, X and Instagram, "the difference is that the national intelligence law means China can use that information to spy on us," he said.

For his part, IT expert Jerry Liao said data privacy is at the heart of the issue on a possible TikTok ban.

"Kung ang dahilan natin sa pag-ban nito even sa government it’s because they are collecting our information, the same thing happens to other social media. Are we saying na kaya natin iba-ban ito kasi hindi tayo pumapayag na ang information natin ay kino-collect at mapupunta sa China at gagamitin pero okay lang mapunta sa ibang bansa, huwag lang sa China? Kung data privacy lang issue, dapat lahat bawal."

Liao noted, however, that TikTok is now being used to spread misinformation and disinformation.

He also warned that majority of TikTok users in the Philippines are young people between 10-19 years old.

"'Yung iba halos wala ng ginawa kundi magTikTok, nasasayang ang oras," he said.

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