TikTok banned among military personnel, says AFP spox

Military personnel have been banned from using popular social media app TikTok due to cybersecurity risks, according to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

AFP spokesperson Police Colonel Francel Padilla told The Howie Severino Podcast that the ban covers work and personal phones of military personnel.

"Sa AFP, banned na po siya (In AFP, the use of TikTok has been banned already). So we are not allowed to use TikTok. For one, because it's an application made by China but is not used by China. So that in itself, we say go figure," she said.

"We have a directive that we are not allowed to use TikTok. So we follow it to the letter," Padilla added.

Padilla pointed out that TikTok and other free apps ask users for access to phone features like camera, microphone, and messages even though their services have nothing to do with these functions.

"Not just Tiktok, but the free apps that we have in our gadgets, they have the capability to turn on our microphones, to look at us and watch us while we sleep and turn on our cameras, access our SMS sent messages to our contacts because we gave them permission when we downloaded these applications," she said.

In September last year, the National Security Council (NSC) said it is studying the possibility of banning TikTok among the government’s uniformed personnel to avoid possible "data leak."

Several countries, such as the United States, India, and Canada have announced moves to ban TikTok, which is owned by a Chinese company, on government phones and state workers amid concerns that the application might give sensitive use data to the Chinese government. —Joviland Rita/KBK, GMA Integrated News