Amazon says delete TikTok email to employees ‘sent in error’

San Francisco, July 11 (IANS): After reports surfaced that Amazon told its employees to delete the Chinese short-video making app TikTok from their smartphones, the e-commerce giant has said that the email in this regard was ‘sent in error’.

According to a report in The Hill on Friday, Amazon which has over 840,000 employees globally said there “is no change to our policies right now with regard to TikTok”.

A TikTok spokesperson said that the e-commerce giant “did not tell the social media company about its request prior to sending out the email to employees”.

A Wall Street Journal report earlier quoted an internal Amazon memo as saying that “employees must delete TikTok to be able to continue accessing their email from their phones”.

A TikTok spokesperson said that user security is of the utmost importance for the company.

“We welcome a dialogue so we can address any issues they may have and enable their team to continue participating in our community,” a TikTok spokesperson was quoted as saying.

The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said this week that Washington was looking at banning Chinese social media apps, including TikTok.

In a Fox News interview, Pompeo said that “we’re taking this very seriously”.

“With respect to Chinese apps on people’s cell phones, I can assure you the US will get this one right too… I don’t want to get out in front of the President (Donald Trump), but it’s something we’re looking at,” he said in the interview.

India has already banned 59 Chinese apps, including TikTok, saying these apps opened the way for “elements hostile to national security and defence” to exploit them to “ultimately impinge upon the sovereignty and integrity of India”.

Pompeo said people should only download the app “if you want your private information in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party”.