Update 2:20 p.m.: An Amazon spokesperson said Friday afternoon that the email ordering employees to delete TikTok was an error. The company declined to provide further explanation for how the directive was sent on accident.
“This morning’s email to some of our employees was sent in error,” the spokesperson said. “There is no change to our policies right now with regard to TikTok.”
Amazon emailed employees Friday morning asking them to immediately remove the popular video-sharing app TikTok from their mobile devices due to security concerns, according to an internal email shared on Twitter and The New York Times.
“Due to security risks, the TikTop app is no longer permitted on mobile devices that access Amazon email,” the company said Friday in an email to employees.
Here’s the email Amazon sent to employees this morning banning TikTok from employee phones.
“If you have TikTok on your device, you must remove it by 10-Jul to retain mobile access to Amazon email.” pic.twitter.com/fIgmqyMhmO
— Taylor Lorenz (@TaylorLorenz) July 10, 2020
TikTok has quickly become one of the most popular social media apps in the world but government officials and business leaders are becoming increasingly wary of the Chinese-owned company.
The U.S. military has already barred its members from using TikTok and the federal government is considering a broader ban out of concerns that the Chinese government may be using the app to spy on Americans.
Earlier this month, India announced it will ban TikTok and other popular Chinese apps citing threats to “sovereignty and integrity.”
A TikTok spokesperson said the company is “fully committed to respecting the privacy of users,” in a statement to the Times.
“While Amazon did not communicate to us before sending their email, and we still do not understand their concerns, we welcome a dialogue so we can address any issues they may have and enable their team to continue participating in our community.”
Last month, a new privacy feature in iOS 14 revealed TikTok was accessing users’ clipboard content despite promising to discontinue the practice last year.
Amazon’s internal ban sparked immediate reaction from employees and followers of the company on Twitter.
AMZN requires employees to install a configuration profile on their devices in order to access internal email and apps.
Completely independent of the specifics in this instance: get a second device before installing an employer’s config profile on your personal device.
— Scott Hickle 🌎 (@scotthickle) July 10, 2020
Lol amazon telling us to delete tiktok on our phones if we have mobile access to internal email. I mean China already has all the info they need honestly haha
— Darren T. (@nerrad206) July 10, 2020
This is big, also interesting because Amazon is a big early advertiser on TikTok https://t.co/d4zbPEixJ4
— Alex Heath (@alexeheath) July 10, 2020
Amazon just told me I gotta delete TikTok. 👀 I never had it but what they been doin?
— Rise AceDolo 🇵🇦 (@AceDoloX1) July 10, 2020
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