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'Uninstall TikTok': Military district chief bans soldiers from using popular video app
The commander of the Amuntai district Military Command said that he feared soldiers using TikTok would create a negative image of the Indonesian Military (TNI) in the public eye.
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A district military commander in South Kalimantan has banned his soldiers and their wives from using TikTok, a popular Beijing-based short-form video platform. (Shutterstock/Denys Prykhodov)
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district military commander in South Kalimantan has banned his soldiers and their wives from using TikTok, a popular Beijing-based short-form video platform, and sharing footage with others on social media.
Lt. Col. Inf. Ali Ahmad Satriyadi, the commander of the Amuntai district Military Command, said that he feared soldiers using TikTok would create a negative image of the Indonesian Military (TNI) in the public eye.
“Just uninstall TikTok. If you still have [the app] in your cell phone, you will be tempted to use it again or it will tempt other family members to use it,” Ali said on Wednesday, as quoted by Antara.
Ali said there had been many cases in which TikTok videos involving soldiers or their wives, who were also members of Army’s Wives Union (Persit), went viral and tarnished the military’s reputation.
TikTok, operated by Chinese tech company Bytedance, has gained worldwide popularity in recent years, including among social media users in Indonesia. The app allows its users to create short videos and share them on other platforms, such as Instagram.
TNI commander Air Chief Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto has yet to issue a statement about the TNI’s official stance on the use of the short video app by its soldiers.
The United States Army and Navy have both banned the use of TikTok on government-owned phones, calling it a security threat. (gis)
