Amazon says on Friday that it will not ask employees to remove the social video-sharing app TikTok from their mobile devices, and an earlier email asking workers to do so was sent in error.
"This morning's email to some of our employees was sent in error," the Amazon spokesperson said. "There is no change to our policies right now with regard to TikTok."
According to media reports, Amazon sent an email on Friday morning to ask employees to remove TikTok, which is owned by China-based ByteDance, from their mobile devices.
"Due to security risks, the TikTok app is no longer permitted on mobile devices that access Amazon email. If you have TikTok on your device, you must remove it by 10-Jul to retain mobile access to Amazon email," the email was quoted as saying by U.S. media.
A spokesperson from TikTok had responded in a statement before Amazon clarified its current policy on the app, reports Xinhua.
"While Amazon did not communicate to us before sending their email, and we still do not understand their concerns, we welcome a dialogue so we can address any issues they may have and enable their team to continue participating in our community," said the statement.
According to previous reports, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday that the United States is "certainly looking at" banning TikTok, citing security concerns, yet offering no evidence to support his concerns.
