After the EU's move, the Italian government is also evaluating the possibility of blocking the Chinese app TikTok on the mobile phones of civil servants. This was announced by the Minister of Public Administration Paolo Zangrillo.
The issue "has been under attention for a few days", he explains, specifying that Copasir, the Parliamentary Security Committee which controls the Italian secret services, is "already engaging in the matter". "But it is clear that my ministry, having 3.2 million employees, is heavily involved," adds Zangrillo. Two possible options are on the table: "Move as the European Commission moved", which on Thursday banned the famous short-video social network, "or possibly take a different decision".
«Already next week we will have to discuss and try to arrive at a synthesis – he concludes – We will make a decision quickly. Now we need to understand well what is actually the depth of the risks related to national security".
Holds back the leader of the League Matteo Salvini : «Blocking TikTok? It is a question that involves security and democracy. I am perplexed and I am against any type of censorship,” says the deputy premier who has been active on the Chinese social network since 2019 and has over 848,000 followers. "In a liberal society, before arriving at radical 'blocs' we need to think carefully".
In Europe, meanwhile , by March 15, the app must be uninstalled from company mobile phones of Commission staff and from private ones with access to the mobile phone service . A "wrong" decision and "based on prejudices", was the reply of the social network. But moves similar to those of Brussels are already in force in the US , where a Senate law in December banned the app on the cellphones of state and federal employees.
(Unioneonline/D)
