Opción B - 4 · Inglés PAU Castilla y León Ordinaria (Fase Mejora de Nota) 2024

BRITAIN BECOMES LATEST TO BAN TIKTOK ON GOVERNMENT PHONES

British authorities said Thursday that they are banning the Chinese-owned video-sharing app TikTok

from government mobile phones on security grounds, following similar moves by the U.S. and European

Union. Cabinet Office minister Oliver Dowden told Parliament the ban applies, with immediate effect, to

work phones and other devices used by government ministers and civil servants. He described the ban as a

5 “precautionary move” and said it does not apply to personal phones and devices.

“Given the particular risk around government devices, which may contain sensitive information, it

is both prudent and proportionate to restrict the use of certain apps, particularly when it comes to apps

where a large amount of data can be stored and accessed,” Dowden told British lawmakers.

The U.S. government mandated last month that employees of federal agencies had to delete TikTok

10 from all government-issued mobile devices. Congress, the White House, the U.S. military, and more than

half of U.S. states already had banned the app. The European Union, Belgium and others have also

temporarily banned the app from employee phones.

The company has insisted such concerns are based on “misinformation”, and said it was taking steps

to boost protection of user data from Britain and Europe. “We believe these bans have been based on

15 fundamental misconceptions and driven by wider geopolitics, in which TikTok and our millions of users in

the U.K. play no part”, the company said. “We remain committed to working with the government to

address any concerns, but we should be judged on facts and treated equally to our competitors.”

Last year, the British Parliament shut down its TikTok account which was intended to reach younger

audiences just days after its launch, following concerns from lawmakers. (Fragment adapted from Los

20 Angeles Times.)

4) VOCABULARY (2 POINTS).

4.1

Choose one of the options below and find one word in the text for its definition (0.6 POINTS):

4.2

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4.3

For one of the following words from the text, give a synonym that fits the meaning of the text (0.8 POINTS):