Australia announced Tuesday it would ban TikTok on government devices, joining a list of Western countries cracking down on Chinese-owned apps over national security concerns.
By Crown Lydia
Attorney General Mark Dreyfuss said the decision follows advice from the country's intelligence services and will begin "as soon as possible."
Australia is the latest member of the secret Five Eyes Security Alliance to pursue the government's ban on her TikTok, joining its allies the US, UK, Canada and New Zealand.
France, the Netherlands and the European Commission have also taken similar measures.
Dreyfus said the government will approve some exceptions "on a case-by-case basis" with "appropriate safeguards". Cybersecurity experts have warned that the app, which has more than a billion users worldwide, could be used to siphon data and then share it with the Chinese government.
Research shows that up to 7 million Australians use the app, about a quarter of the population.
In a security advisory outlining the ban, the Attorney General's Department said TikTok poses "substantial security and privacy risks" stemming from "extensive collection of user data."
Fergus Ryan, an analyst with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said removing TikTok from government devices would be "easy."
"It's been clear for years that China has access to TikTok user data," Ryan told AFP. "Banning the use of apps on government phones is a wise decision given this fact."
Mr Ryan said the Chinese government would likely "see it as an unfair treatment and discrimination against Chinese companies".
Security concerns are underpinned by a 2017 Chinese law that requires local businesses to hand over personal data to the state when it relates to national security.
Beijing denies that these reforms pose a threat to ordinary users.
China's foreign ministry spokesman Mao Ning said in March, "China has never required any company or individual to collect or provide data located abroad in violation of local laws, and will continue to do so." I will never do it," he said.
– “rooted in xenophobia” –
TikTok said such a ban was "rooted in xenophobia" but claimed it was not owned or operated by the Chinese government. The company's Australian spokesman, Lee Hunter, said it would "never" share data with the Chinese government.
"No one is working hard to prevent this from happening," he told Australia's Channel Seven.
However, the company admitted in November that some employees in China had access to European user data, and in December said employees were using the data to spy on journalists.
The app is used to share short lighthearted videos and has grown in popularity in recent years.
Initially, many government agencies were eager to use TikTok to connect with younger demographics that traditional media channels were hard to reach. New Zealand banned the use of TikTok from government devices in March, saying "the risk is unacceptable in the current New Zealand parliamentary environment".
Earlier this year, the Australian government announced it would remove Chinese-made surveillance cameras from politicians' offices for security reasons.