Sadiq Khan is currently running a paid advertising campaign on TikTok to promote the supposed benefits of his ULEZ expansion. The video, published last night, encourages viewers to play along with Sadiq’s “Big Green London Quiz“, with a series of leading “true or false” questions which peddle Khan’s usual ULEZ talking points:
“True or false? Everywhere in London exceeds the World Health Organization’s limits for toxic air pollution?”
According to Sadiq’s quiz, that’s true. In Guido’s tests, that was actually only true on the London Underground. No mention of that in this quiz for some reason…
The irony here is City Hall has, like Parliament, already banned TikTok on all its devices, citing security concerns from the Chinese government. That’s not an issue for Sadiq, apparently. So long as 15-year-olds who don’t even own cars anyway are playing along with his strange quizzes, the security issues are secondary. Rest assured, Guido has sent in a Freedom of Information request on the cost of the campaign…
Newly-appointed Defence Secretary and TikTok sensation Grant Shapps has removed the popular Chinese-owned social media app from his personal phone, and has surrendered control of his beloved account to his constituency staff. A source close to Shapps told the Express this afternoon:
“Grant knows that TikTok can be a valuable tool for communicating with his constituents… Aware of security concerns, he doesn’t have the app on his phone and the account is instead managed by his constituency staff.”
Earlier this year, Shapps’ team told Guido he would continue to use TikTok in future – despite the ban on the app across all government devices – arguing it’s an effective tool to reach voters. He made it pretty clear he planned on staying:
@grantshapps This morning the government announced a TikTok ban on government devices. That’s sensible. I’ve never used TikTok on government devices and can hereby confirm I will NOT be leaving TikTok anytime soon! #politics #news #foryoupage #FYP #trend #wolfofwallstreet #imnotleaving #tiktok
Not so much…
TikTok has been banned across the Parliamentary estate. In a joint statement released today, the Speakers of the Commons and the Lords announced the social media app will be blocked from Parliament’s WiFi networks and all Parliamentary-issued hardware:
“Cyber security is a top priority for us all and we believe that this is a necessary step to ensure our parliamentary digital devices remain as secure as possible.”
A moment’s silence for TikTok superstars Luke Evans and Zarah Sultana. At least Shapps can still log in from his departmental office…
Just days after the government banned TikTok from all official hardware, the BBC have announced they are also “[advising] staff to delete TikTok from corporate phones because of privacy and security fears”. The BBC’s own coverage of the story boasts that the broadcaster “seems to be the first UK media organisation to issue the guidance – and only the second in the world after Denmark’s public service broadcaster.” Bravo…
This probably hasn’t landed well with the BBC’s own “TikTok Team“, which launched this year with the hiring of dedicated “social news journalists” who are on the payroll specifically to make the BBC’s TikTok account “the biggest and best, globally and in the UK“. At the start of the year, BBC News CEO Deborah Turness explicitly told staff that “growing the BBC News TikTok account […] is one of News’ main priorities for 2023”. The expired job ad can still be viewed online…
Now in an email to staff, the corporation warns:
“The decision is based on concerns raised by government authorities worldwide regarding data privacy and security. If the device is a BBC corporate device, and you do not need TikTok for business reasons, TikTok should be deleted from the BBC corporate mobile device.”
The BBC add they’ll “continue to use the platform for editorial and marketing purposes for now.” For now? It was one of “News’ main priorities” about 8 weeks ago…
Grant Shapps’ team tell Guido he will continue to use TikTok in future, despite today’s ban on the app across all government devices. A spokesperson for Shapps said that while the Energy Secretary thinks it is “eminently sensible” to ban it from government hardware, it’s an effective tool to reach voters. Albeit, they stress, from non-governmental devices…
“Grant has never used TikTok on government devices and believes security measures – like not sharing location permission – are sensible, however he is concerned that representatives of the people who deliberately choose not to engage with the public on the platforms that they actually use are unlikely to continue to represent these voters for long.”
In other words: the memes will continue…
UPDATE: He’s not leaving…
@grantshapps This morning the government announced a TikTok ban on government devices. That’s sensible. I’ve never used TikTok on goverment devices and can hereby confirm I will NOT be leaving TikTok anytime soon! #politics #news #foryoupage #FYP #trend #wolfofwallstreet #imnotleaving #tiktok
Oliver Dowden today confirmed the news that TikTok is to be banned from all government devices. The decision followed a security review which found that, given the risk to sensitive data, strengthening policy on third party apps and banning TikTok “with immediate effect” would be proportionate. The restriction follows similar moves by the US, Canada and European Commission and will not apply to the personal devices of government officials. Dowden said:
“The security of sensitive government information must come first, so today we are banning this app on government devices. The use of other data-extracting apps will be kept under review… Restricting the use of TikTok on Government devices is a prudent and proportionate step following advice from our cyber security experts.”
Spare a thought for Grant Shapps and Luke Evans. The Ministry of Defence still has a public account on the platform, which it will continue to use “to promote the work of the Armed Forces and to communicate our support to Ukraine“. Presumably because they know the CCP are watching…
