Amazon Says Memo Banning TikTok From Phones Sent 'In Error'

(Reuters) - Amazon .com Inc said it sent an email earlier on Friday that requested employees remove the TikTok app from mobile devices that also had access to company emails in error.

A company spokeswoman said there has been no change in its policy on TikTok.

“This morning’s email to some of our employees was sent in error,” a company spokeswoman said. “There is no change to our policies right now with regard to TikTok.”

Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok, among the fastest growing digital platforms in history, is facing heavy scrutiny outside China. India banned TikTok and other Chinese apps in June.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said earlier this week Washington was considering banning TikTok in the United States. Asked if Americans should download it, he told Fox News : “Only if you want your private information in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.”

Two Republican senators in March introduced a bill aimed at banning federal employees from using TikTok on their government-issued phones, amid growing national security concerns around the collection and sharing of data on U.S. users with China’s government.

Last year the United States Navy banned TikTok from government-issued mobile devices, saying the short video app represented a “cybersecurity threat.”

Last November, the U.S. government launched a national security review of TikTok owner Beijing ByteDance Technology Co’s $1 billion acquisition of U.S. social media app Musical.ly, Reuters first reported last year.