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TECHNOLOGY Saturday 11 July 2020
Reports: Amazon bars video app TikTok on workers' phones

By TALI ARBEL ban. India is one of TikTok's
AP Technology Writer largest markets and had
Amazon has told employ- previously briefly banned
ees to delete the popu- the app in 2019 because of
lar video app TikTok from worries about children and
phones on which they use sexual content.
Amazon email, citing se- Amazon's move on TikTok
curity risks from the China- may foretell actions by
owned app, according to other companies. "If we are
reports and posts by Twitter concerned about TikTok,
users who said they were we should be concerned
Amazon employees. about thousands of other
The notice said employees apps that collect, sell, and
must delete the app by Fri- give access to our location
day to keep mobile access data, contacts, and pho-
to Amazon email. Workers tos on our phones," said
would still be allowed to Kirsten Martin, a professor
use TikTok from an Amazon of technology ethics at the
laptop browser. University of Notre Dame.q
Amazon is the second-larg-
est U.S. private employer
after Walmart, with with
more than 840,000 employ-
ees worldwide. Amazon This Feb. 25, 2020, file photo, shows the icon for TikTok in New York.
did not immediately reply Associated Press
to requests for comment.
In an emailed statement, host Laura Ingraham sug- privacy, even after the which Trump has referred
TikTok said that Amazon did gested that the U.S. ban Federal Trade Commis- to as "fake news" when-
not notify it before sending Chinese social media apps, sion fined the company in ever it publishes unfavor-
the email. "We still do not "especially TikTok," Secre- 2019 for collecting personal able stories about him. Last
understand their concerns," tary of State Mike Pompeo information from children year, Amazon sued the U.S.
it continued, adding that said that "We're certainly without their parents' con- government, saying that
the company would wel- looking at it." sent. Trump's "personal vendet-
come a dialogue to ad- Pompeo said the Trump TikTok, like YouTube, relies ta" against Amazon, Bezos
dress Amazon's issues. administration has "worked on its users for the videos and the Post, led it to lose
Chinese internet giant on this very issue for a long that populate its app. They a $10 billion cloud comput-
ByteDance owns TikTok, time," including its stance are under a minute long, ing contract with the Pen-
which is designed for users against Chinese telecom and many feature dancing tagon to rival Microsoft.
outside of China, as well as firms Huawei and ZTE. The and lip-syncing. TikTok has Meanwhile, federal regula-
a Chinese version called government has tried to a reputation as a fun, goofy tors as well as Congress are
Douyin. The app is popular convince allies to root Hua- video destination, but it pursuing antitrust investiga-
with young people, includ- wei out of telecom net- has racked up concerns tions at Amazon as well as
ing millions of American us- works, saying the company ranging from censorship other tech giants.
ers, but is the subject of na- is a national-security threat, of videos, including those TikTok has content-mod-
tional security concerns. with mixed success; Trump critical of the Chinese gov- eration policies, like any
TikTok has been trying to has also said he was will- ernment, the threat of shar- social network, but says its
appease critics in the U.S. ing to use Huawei as a bar- ing user data with Chinese moderation team for the
and distance itself from its gaining chip in trade talks. officials and violating kids' U.S. is led out of California
Chinese roots, but finds it- Huawei has denied that it privacy. and it doesn't censor vid-
self caught in an increas- enables spying for the Chi- Amazon is likely concerned eos based on topics sensi-
ingly sticky geopolitical nese government. about a Chinese-owned tive to China and would
web. "With respect to Chinese app's access to employ- not, even if the Chinese
TikTok recently named a apps on people's cell ee data, said Susan Ariel government asked it to. As
new CEO, t op Disney ex- phones, I can assure you Aaronson, a professor at for sharing U.S. user data
ecutive Kevin Mayer, which the United States will get George Washington Uni- with the Chinese govern-
experts said could help it this one right too," Pompeo versity and a data gover- ment, the company says it
navigate U.S. regulators. said, and added that if us- nance and national-secu- stores U.S. user data in the
And it is stopping opera- ers downloaded the app rity expert. China, accord- U.S. and Singapore, not
tions in of Hong Kong be- their private information ing to the U.S. government, China; that its data centers
cause of a new Chinese would be "in the hands of regularly steals U.S. intellec- are outside of China; and
national security law that the Chinese Communist tual property. it would not give the gov-
led Facebook, Google and Party." Part of Amazon's motiva- ernment access to U.S. user
Twitter to also stop provid- A U.S. national-security tion with the ban may also data even if asked.
ing user data to Hong Kong agency has been review- be political, Aaronson said, Concerns about China are
authorities. ing ByteDance's purchase since Amazon "doesn't not limited to the U.S. India
But a top Trump administra- of TikTok's precursor, Mu- want to alienate the Trump this month banned dozens
tion official said this week sical.ly, while U.S. military administration." of Chinese apps, including
that the government re- branches banned the app Amazon and its founder, TikTok, because of tensions
mains concerned about from government-issued Jeff Bezos, are frequent between the countries. In-
the national-security threat phones. Meanwhile, pri- targets of President Don- dia cited privacy concerns
to the app's millions of U.S. vacy groups say TikTok has ald Trump. Bezos personally that threatened India's sov-
users. When Fox News TV been violating children's owns The Washington Post, ereignty and security for the