#TikTok #Japan #MassSurveillance #Privacy

Some local governments in Japan suspend TikTok accounts

Recently, there are voices in many countries that the Chinese video-sharing platform TikTok, perhaps, sends user data directly to the Chinese government. Following the announcement by the Kobe City Government of Japan suspending official Tiktok accounts, Saitama Prefecture and Osaka Prefecture also announced yesterday about the suspension of official TikTok accounts due to many citizens' concerns about leaking user information.

The Saitama Prefecture government announced on 5 August 2020 that it would stop using its official Tiktok account created in February, with a total of about 20 messages released, such as dancing videos promoting local customs and anti-epidemic related videos. Although the local government only made an announcement yesterday, it suspended the account as early as July 20 and deleted all videos. The number of followers of the Saitama account was approximately 1,000.

The official Osaka account had 33,000 followers before the suspension. Yesterday, Yoshimura Hirofumi, the Governor of Osaka also said, "We decided to freeze the account before we can find out whether there is a security problem." He also mentioned in an earlier interview that TikTok was a tool for sending information to elementary, middle and high school students effectively. "However, the most important thing is the national interest, if there is a security problem, we should suspend using it."

The Kobe City announced earlier that it temporarily suspended its official TikTok account from 3 August. In order to strengthen the contact with the youngster, the city cooperated with TikTok in May this year and began to distribute animals-related videos and parenting support information on the software. The number of followers was approximately 550.

Source: Stand News #Aug6
#BigData #Kobe #Saitama #Osaka