United States multinational technology company Amazon on Friday banned the TikTok video sharing app from employees’ mobile devices but revoked the order hours later, Reuters reported. In a communication to employees later in the day, Amazon called the ban “a mistake”.
It was not clear what led to the initial ban. Senior Amazon executives were unaware of the order to delete TikTok from employees’ devices, Reuters reported quoting an unidentified official. The email sent to TikTok employees by the company said the ban was reversed after TikTok and Amazon representatives discussed the matter.
Amazon’s flip-flop came on the same week that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo indicated that the federal government might ban the app, suggesting it was sharing data with the Chinese government.
Earlier this week, American multinational financial services company Wells Fargo had sent an email to its employees banning the use of the TikTok app. “Due to concerns about TikTok’s privacy and security controls and practices, and because corporate-owned devices should be used for company business only, we have directed those employees to remove the app from their devices,” Wells Fargo said in a statement.
TikTok said it had not received any formal communication about Wells Fargo banning the app, and added that it was ready to engage constructively with the company to explain the actions it had taken for data security.
India had on June 29 banned TikTok and 58 other China-linked apps, citing security concerns. However, India’s action came two weeks after its troops clashed violently with their Chinese counterparts in Ladakh along the Line of Actual Control. Twenty Indian soldiers were killed in the incident.
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