TAIPEI (TVBS News) — The National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) addressed the issue of TikTok regulation on Thursday (March 14), stating that the situations in the United States and Taiwan are different, with Taiwan's being more complex. The body trusts the Executive Yuan and the Ministry of Digital Affairs to make appropriate decisions.
The statement came from NSTC Minister Wu Tsung-tsong during an interview before the Education and Culture Committee meeting at the Legislative Yuan. Wu was asked about the potential for TikTok regulations to extend to the private sector, given that the app has already been banned in the public sector.
Recently, the regulation of TikTok has sparked a lot of debate. The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill on Wednesday (March 13), which gives the social media giant's Chinese parent company, ByteDance, six months to sell its controlling stake or the app would be blocked in the U.S.
Wu commented that TikTok has significantly propagated the spread of false information across all age groups. He added that as the U.S. has already established its approach, Taiwan would observe how democratic nations worldwide prevent the spread of misinformation.