TikTok ban: Australia joins US, Canada and others to ban TikTok from govt-issued devices
TikTok ban: Australia joins US, Canada and others to ban TikTok from govt-issued devices
Australia has joined several European nations, along with the United States, and Canada in prohibiting the use of TikTok on government devices, as the Chinese-owned video-sharing social media app comes under growing scrutiny for posing a security risk.
The United States, on the other hand, is considering outright banning TikTok in the nation, following in the footsteps of India.
TikTok gets banned from government devices in Australia
After getting several reports from its intelligence and security agencies, Australia’s Attorney General, Mark Dreyfus revealed the plan to ban the ByteDance-owned app on Tuesday, saying it would be implemented “as soon as possible.”
The decision aligns Australia with its Five Eyes intelligence alliance partners – the US, Britain, and Canada have already declared similar limits, and New Zealand’s government has also ordered that the app be deleted from all government-issued devices.
Also read: New Zealand & the UK become the latest countries to ban TikTok from government devices
Norway and the European Parliament have taken similar steps, and according to two NATO officials familiar with the situation, NATO barred employees from installing the app onto NATO-provided devices last week.
TikTok’s reaction to the ban
TikTok’s general manager for Australia and New Zealand, Lee Hunter, stated that the business is “extremely disappointed by this decision, which, in our opinion, is driven by politics.”
“Our millions of Australian users deserve a government that makes fact-based decisions and treats all businesses fairly, regardless of origin,” he said.
He also emphasised that the company had frequently called out to the Australian government for constructive engagement, despite the lack of evidence that the app presented a security danger to the nation.
According to TikTok, Australia has 8.30 million users aged 18 and up as of early 2023.
So far, there is no proof that the Chinese government has gained access to TikTok’s user data. No government has implemented a broad ban on TikTok on personal devices on that ground. However, India was one of the first countries to ban TikTok because of the border skirmishes with the Chinese Army.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration has vowed to ban the app in the US unless the app’s Chinese owners, Bytedance, agree to divest their owner of the social media platform.
The US government is concerned that China will use its national security legislation to gain access to the vast amount of confidential information TikTok, like most social media apps, gathers from its US users.
“TikTok does not and will not share data with the Chinese government”
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew was grilled about the tech company’s supposed links to the Chinese government during a high-profile congressional session on the subject last month, which was disastrous for the company.
Also read: China denies asking firms for foreign data as TikTok faces mounting pressure for a ban
Chew has stated that the Chinese government has never requested TikTok’s data and that the company will reject any such request. However, all Chinese companies are required by law to provide any such data that the government or any of its agencies ask for.
China’s Commerce Ministry, for its part, stated that any decision resulting in the compelled selling of TikTok would “seriously harm” global investors’ trust in the United States.
Australia’s attorney general, like some of the other countries that have implemented the ban, stated that any exclusions would be given “on a case-by-case basis and with appropriate security mitigation in place.”
Dreyfus also stated that the government had recently gotten the country’s Home Affairs Department’s study into foreign interference through social media applications, and that its suggestions were being examined.
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