France riots: MPs call on government to ban video-sharing platform TikTok

French MPs called on the government, on Thursday, to ban the video-sharing platform TikTok till it clarifies its links to China. This move came after the government condemned the social media platform for igniting and fuelling riots in the country.

A Senate commission of inquiry set to investigate TikTok's handling of data and "influence strategy" said in its final report that the video-sharing platform should be given time until January 1 next year to either come clean or face a ban in France and possibly Europe.

The commission, which held four months of hearings and quizzed TikTok executives about its ownership structure, also said the platform had to enhance content moderation and introduce "effective" age limits or face being suspended.

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"We strongly disagree with the conclusions of this report, which does not accurately reflect the facts," a TikTok spokesperson said.

Macron and his ministers have picked out platforms, including TikTok, for circulating images of the nights of violence that took place after a police officer shot dead 17-year-old, Nahel M in a Paris suburb on June 27.

The senators have supported the idea of blocking content during moments of crisis and suggested TikTok should be forced to ramp up moderation in the event of future outbreaks of violence.

The social media application, TikTok, is widely used by millions of users across the world. It was set up by a Chinese company ByteDance but is registered in the Cayman Islands.

The social media giant claims that there has been a total separation from the Chinese entities.

The platform has already been banned in the state of Montana in the United States and faces intense scrutiny in many locations.

The senators urged the government to expand an existing ban on public servants using TikTok to cover anyone in a "vitally important" role in a public or private organisation.

Andre Gattolin, vice-chairman of the committee, said he "absolutely doubted" the viability of TikTok's business model.

He said it appeared TikTok "is not an economic enterprise but a political enterprise with the aim of capturing personal data".

The TikTok spokesperson said the firm had cooperated throughout, adding: "It is disappointing that the Commission would spend so much time and resources only to return to the same misperceptions."

(With inputs from agencies)

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