STORTING (Dagbladet): Emilie Enger Mehl (Sp) has had TikTok on her work phone, Dagbladet could recently tell.
– This is a scandal, says MDG leader Arild Hermstad.
The Storting has for a long time demanded an answer from the Minister of Justice regarding the use of the controversial app on the work phone. Despite repeated questions, the elected officials have not received a clear answer from Mehl.
Controversial China app on work phone
Compares with the Sandberg case
MDG leader Hermstad compares for the first time the Mehl case and the scandal that cost Per Sandberg (Frp) his job as Minister of Justice in 2018.
– It is only natural to look at the Sandberg case, and how much discussion it became, says Hermstad to Dagbladet.
– Per Sandberg lost his job?
– This case is no less serious, Hermstad asserts.
Minister had a Chinese app: – Mystery
Sensitive information
He emphasizes that his party will follow up the case with Mehl in the Storting.
When it became known that Per Sandberg had taken his service phone with him on a trip to Iran, he was forced to resign as Minister of Justice. The fear was that the Iranian authorities had hacked Sandberg’s phone while it was in the country.
The Chinese app TikTok requires access to an extremely large amount of personal data to reside on a mobile phone – regardless of whether it is used or not.
– As stated earlier, I have several digital devices in the service for various purposes. For security reasons, I do not want to go into how this is set up. On my own initiative, since last autumn I have had a device specifically for social media, although this is not a requirement. Beyond this, I have no further comments, the Minister of Justice told Dagbladet on Monday.
CRITICAL: MDG leader Arild Hermstad. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB
sea view
Security experts has previously strongly warned against the app, pointing out that the information TikTok collects ends up in the hands of Chinese authorities.
Hermstad says a large part of the problem is that the Storting now does not know what information TikTok has collected from Mehl’s work phone.
– There is a real risk that information from Mehl’s phone has gone astray. It may be a question of sensitive information related to social security. We simply do not know, says Arild Hermstad further.
Strong warning: – May go towards the end
Exposed
Dagbladet has previously written that Health Minister Ingvild Kjerkol (Ap) and Fisheries Minister Bjørnar Skjæran (Ap) have also had TikTok on their work phone.
– It’s bad enough, but it’s even worse that the minister responsible for preparedness and social security has exposed his work phone in this way. It’s not just naive – it’s frivolous, says Hermstad.
He calls for greater humility from Mehl, who still does not want to confirm to the Storting that she has had TikTok on her phone.
In Venstre, too, Dagbladet’s article is being criticized.
– What makes this case so serious is the potential security threat as a result of the fact that Norway’s Minister of Justice has until recently used an app owned and controlled by the Chinese regime, says Grunde Almeland (V) to Dagbladet.
– Answer and be done!
Fear of leakage to China
PST stated in Dagbladet yesterday that China will eventually become one of the biggest threats to Norwegian security, and confirms that Chinese intelligence is conducting illegal and unwanted activity in Norway.
– It may also have involved the Minister of Justice, although she refuses to comment on the case, says Almeland.
VERY CONCERNED: Liberal politician Grunde Almeland. Photo: Håkon Mosvold Larsen / NTB
sea view
Previously, Dagbladet wrote that the Støre government has no concrete guidelines regarding TikTok on the work phone. That was also the reason Kjerkol and Skjæran stated in their answers to the case.
– The most surprising thing about this case is that it is clear that the government has no common guidelines whatsoever on the use of this type of Chinese technology in a work context. It’s naive, says Almeland.
