The UK government is to ban the use of Chinese-owned social media app TikTok on all phones and other official devices used by government ministers and civil servants.

Described as “good cyber hygiene”, Cabinet Office Minister Oliver Dowden told MPs the app posed a security risk and would be banned with immediate effect.

Dowden said in a press release: “The security of sensitive government information must come first, so today we are banning this app on government devices. The use of other data-extracting apps will be kept under review,”

“Restricting the use of TikTok on Government devices is a prudent and proportionate step following advice from our cyber security experts.”

Despite public allegations from multiple western leaders TikTok has strongly denied that it hands over its data to the Chinese government.

US president Joe Biden threatened to ban TikTok in the US on Wednesday unless the social media company’s Chinese owners divest sold their stakes in it.