Amazon forces employees to take TikTok off their phones

Amazon told all its employees to delete the TikTok app off their phones on Friday or lose mobile access to their work emails.

Amazon sent an email to its employees requesting they delete the Chinese-owned video sharing app from any devices they use to "access Amazon email" over unspecified "security risks," The New York Times reports. They'll still be allowed to watch TikTok videos on their laptop browser, the email said. It's unclear how this move will affect Amazon's own use of TikTok, as it promotes its Prime streaming platform and other company segments on the app.

TikTok, the app popular among teenagers, has been the subject of security concerns over its access to American data and ownership by the Chinese company Bytedance. China's Communist party has a notoriously heavy entanglement with tech companies operated out of the country. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said earlier this week the U.S. was looking into banning the app in the U.S. altogether.

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TikTok has said it does not provide data to the Chinese government or comply with the country's censorship requests. This week, the company pulled out of Hong Kong's market pending review of China's new security law that threatens the former British colony's autonomy.