TikTok, now barred in all three of the EU’s main institutions, has faced increasing scrutiny by Western countries in recent months over fears about how much access China has to user data.

The European Parliament on Tuesday banned Chinese short video-sharing app TikTok from staff devices over cybersecurity concerns, becoming the latest EU institution to do so after the European Commission and the European Council.

“In view of cybersecurity concerns, in particular regarding data protection and collection of data by third parties, the European Parliament has decided, in alignment with other institutions, to suspend as from 20 March 2023, the use of the TikTok mobile application on corporate devices,” it said in a statement.

The Parliament also “strongly recommended” that its members and staff remove TikTok from their personal devices that have the institution’s email and other network access installed on them.

TikTok, owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, told CNN: “It’s disappointing to see that other government bodies and institutions are banning TikTok on employee devices with no deliberation or evidence.”

“These bans are based on basic misinformation about our company, and we are readily available to meet with officials to set the record straight about our ownership structure and our commitment to privacy and data security.

“We share a common goal with governments that are concerned about user privacy, but these bans are misguided and do nothing to further privacy or security,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “We appreciate that some governments have wisely chosen not to implement such bans due to a lack of evidence that there is any such need.”

The European Council, the main legislative branch of the EU, and the executive body European Commission banned their staff last week from installing TikTok on official devices amid data protection concerns.

The European Commission said their decision to ban the app applies only to devices overseen by the EU’s executive branch, saying in a statement: “This measure aims to protect the Commission against cybersecurity threats and actions which may be exploited for cyber-attacks against the corporate environment of the Commission.”

Denmark’s parliament also announced Tuesday that it had asked lawmakers and all staff to remove the video-sharing platform from mobile devices because of the “risk of spying”.

The moves by the European Parliament and Danish Parliament come after the White House directed all federal agencies on Monday to wipe TikTok off all US government devices within 30 days.

Canada also announced on Monday a ban on TikTok from government-issued devices, saying it presents an “unacceptable” level of risk to privacy and security.

India and Taiwan recently took decisions to block TikTok from government devices, too.