As the most recent U.S. ally to take action against the Chinese-owned video app, TikTok, the Australian government announced on Tuesday that it will remove the app from all federal government-owned devices due to security fears.
The action highlights increasing concerns that the Chinese government may use the Beijing-based business, which is owned by ByteDance Ltd, to collect user data for political purposes, undermining Western security interests.
The TikTok ban would go into action “as soon as practically possible”
It runs the risk of escalating international tensions that have subsided somewhat since the Labor administration of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese took office again in May.
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus declared in a statement that the ban would go into action “as soon as practically possible” and that exceptions would only be made when necessary and after taking the necessary security precautions.
All members of the so-called Five Eyes intelligence-sharing network—Australia, Canada, the United States, Britain, and New Zealand—have now prohibited the app from being used on official devices as a result of Australia’s prohibition. Similar bans have been declared by the European Commission, France, and Belgium.
Following the conclusion of a review by the Home Affairs department, the Australian newspaper late on Monday claimed Albanese had agreed to a government-wide ban on the use of TikTok.
Dreyfus confirmed the federal government had recently received the “Review into Foreign Interference through Social Media Applications” report and that its recommendations remained under consideration.
TikTok said it was “extremely disappointed” by Australia’s decision, calling it “driven by politics, not by fact”.
“There is no evidence to suggest that TikTok is in any way a security risk to Australians and should not be treated differently to other social media platforms,” TikTok’s Australia and New Zealand General Manager Lee Hunter said in a statement.
