Government of Australia prohibits TikTok usage on official devices amidst security concerns

Australia joined a growing list of Western nations that are cracking down on the Chinese-owned app due to concerns about national security by announcing on Tuesday that it will prohibit its use on government devices.

Head legal officer Mark Dreyfus said the choice heeded guidance from the country’s knowledge organizations and would start “when practicable”.

Australia, along with its allies the United States, Great Britain, Canada, and New Zealand, is the final member of the enigmatic Five Eyes security alliance to pursue a government TikTok ban.
Similar moves have been taken by France, the Netherlands, and the European Commission.

With “appropriate security mitigations in place,” Dreyfus stated that the government would approve some exemptions “case-by-case.”

Experts in cybersecurity have expressed concern that the app, which has more than one billion users worldwide, could be used to gather data for the Chinese government.

Studies have assessed that upwards of 7,000,000 Australians utilize the application — or about a fourth of the populace.

The Attorney-General’s Department stated in a security notice that outlined the ban that TikTok posed “significant security and privacy risks” due to the “extensive collection of user data.”

China criticized the ban, stating that it had “lodged stern representations” with Canberra regarding the move and requesting that Australia “provide Chinese companies with a business environment that is fair, transparent, and non-discriminatory.”

Mao Ning, a spokesperson for the foreign ministry, stated, “China has always maintained that the issue of data security should not be used as a tool to generalize the concept of national security, abuse state power, and unreasonably suppress companies from other countries.”

However, Australian Strategic Policy Institute analyst Fergus Ryan stated that removing TikTok from government devices was a “no-brainer.”

Ryan stated, “It’s been obvious for years that TikTok user data is accessible in China.”

Given this fact, “Banning the use of the app on government phones is a prudent decision.”

A 2017 law in China supports the security concerns by requiring local businesses to hand over personal data to the state if it is relevant to national security.
Beijing has claimed that these reforms do not pose a threat to common users.

China “has never and won’t need organizations or people to gather or give information situated in a far off country, in a way that disregards nearby regulation”, the unfamiliar service’s Mao said in Spring.

While insisting that it is neither owned nor operated by the Chinese government, TikTok has stated that such bans are “rooted in xenophobia.”

The organization’s Australian representative Lee Tracker said it would “never” give information to the Chinese government.

He stated to Channel Seven in Australia, “No one is working harder to ensure this would never be a possibility.”

However, the company said in December that employees had used the data to spy on journalists and acknowledged in November that some employees in China could access user data from Europe.

The app has gained a lot of popularity in recent years and is typically used to share short, humorous videos.

In the beginning, many government agencies were eager to use TikTok to connect with a younger audience that is difficult to reach through traditional media channels.

New Zealand prohibited TikTok from government gadgets in Spring, saying the dangers were “not satisfactory in the ongoing New Zealand Parliamentary climate”.

Due to security concerns, the Australian government announced earlier this year that it would remove Chinese-made CCTV cameras from politicians’ offices.