Amazon says email mandating employees delete TikTok was sent by mistake

Sputnik news agency and radio 23:04 GMT 10.07.2020

 

An Amazon spokesperson revealed Friday evening that an email sent to employees Friday morning requiring that they remove the video-sharing app TikTok from their company mobile devices was sent in error.

 

“This morning’s email to some of our employees was sent in error. There is no change to our policies right now with regard to TikTok,” a spokesperson for Amazon said in an email to Vox’s Recode.

 

In the now-retracted email, Amazon said employees must delete TikTok if they are accessing their company email accounts from their phones, citing unspecified security concerns. The memo also noted that employees would lose mobile access to their work emails if they did not follow the guidelines and that they could still use TikTok from a laptop browser.

 

The move comes as the app, which is owned by Beijing-based firm ByteDance, is under scrutiny, with US officials expressing concern over the possibility that TikTok might share user data with the Chinese government.

 

On Monday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo revealed that the Trump administration is considering banning Chinese social media applications in the US, including TikTok.

 

“We’re taking this very seriously. We’re certainly looking at it,” Pompeo told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham.

 

“With respect to Chinese apps on people’s cellphones, I can assure you the United States will get this one right too, Laura. I don’t want to get out in front of the president, but it’s something we’re looking at,” Pompeo added.

 

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday also admitted that a ban is something his administration is weighing.

 

“It’s something we’re looking at, yes,” Trump said in an interview with Gray Television’s Greta Van Susteren, Bloomberg reported. “It’s a big business. Look, what happened with China with this virus, what they’ve done to this country and to the entire world is disgraceful.”

 

On Tuesday, a TikTok spokesperson denied claims that the company shares data with the Chinese government, stating that it “is led by an American CEO, with hundreds of employees and key leaders across safety, security, product and public policy here” in the US, Politico reported.

 

“We have no higher priority than promoting a safe and secure app experience for our users. We have never provided user data to the Chinese government, nor would we do so if asked,” the spokesperson added.