As the United States House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill on Wednesday that could eventually ban the social media platform TikTok in the U.S., Taiwan's Cabinet and National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) are setting up further discussions to see whether Taiwan will update its regulation of TikTok.
The U.S. bill passed on Wednesday entails either TikTok's Chinese owner ByteDance divesting its U.S. assets of the app in about six months or the app could eventually be banned in the U.S.
Minister of the NSTC Wu Tsung-tsong (吳政忠) said to the press on Thursday that the Cabinet and the council will continue to follow the latest developments in the U.S. and says Taiwan will also observe how other democratic nations approach curbing the spread of disinformation on social media apps like TikTok.
Taiwan’s Digital Ministry also points out that since 2019, Taiwan has classified TikTok as an app that could jeopardize national information security. The use of TikTok in Taiwan’s governmental sectors is prohibited, while personal use of the app is not. The Digital Ministry has asked TikTok to follow the example of other large platforms such as Meta, Google, LINE, X, etc., to establish a direct communication channel with the Taiwanese government. This would allow related ministries to tackle potential illegal behavior on TikTok in a timely manner.
As for whether Taiwan would adopt any ban on personal use of TikTok, the Digital Ministry says such a decision requires further cross-departmental discussion with the Cabinet and further evaluation of legality. The ministry says it will continue to follow updates from the U.S. House of Representatives and work closely with the Cabinet and other sectors that could inform further decisions in Taiwan.