After MPs had raised the concerns about the risk of data getting passed to the Chinese government, the UK Parliament had suspended and immediately deleted content of its TikTok account, days after its launch. The senior MPs and peers had called for the account to get it removed until TikTok gave 'credible assurances' no data would be handed to China. 

HIGHLIGHTS
UK Parliament has suspended and deleted content of its TikTok account
After a feedback the UK Parliament decide to close it before the planned date
All concerns were raised in the letter to the speakers of both Houses of Parliament

A UK spokesperson has quoted that 'Based on member feedback, we were closing the pilot UK Parliament TikTok account earlier than we had actually planned.' He added that 'The account was a pilot initiative while we had tested the platform in a way to reach younger audiences with relevant content about the Parliament.'

Meanwhile, TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, has completely denied that it was controlled by the Chinese government. TikTok spokeswoman has mentioned that it was 'disappointing' that Parliament would not be able to connect with users of the app in the UK.

Offering to reassure the MPs who raised the concerns, the spokeswoman has mentioned that TikTok would be willing to 'clarify any kind of inaccuracies about our platform.'

Peers and MPs, who would include the former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith and recent party leadership contender Tom Tugendhat, had flagged those concerns in a letter to the speakers of both Houses of Parliament.

In the letter, the peers and MPs, who have been sanctioned by the Chinese government for raising their concern about human rights abuses in the country, had mentioned that they were 'surprised and disappointed too' by Parliament's decision in order to set up the account. The letter had claimed about the data security risks associated with the app were 'considerable.'

Therefore, the letter claimed that TikTok executives were 'unable to reassure MPs that the company would be able to prevent data transfer to ByteDance, well, the parent company would definitely make a request for it.'

It was even mentioned in the letter that 'The prospect of Xi Jinping's government was having the access to the personal data on our children's phones which ought to be a cause for a big concern.'

Also Read: TikTok is working to Safeguard the US Data and National Security