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The Australian federal government has finally dropped the hammer on TikTok by banning its use on government-owned devices, following concerns that the platform could facilitate foreign intervention by China.
Australia is the last country from the Five Eyes intelligence alliance to block the app, following early banning pronouncements from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and New Zealand.
“After receiving advice from intelligence and security agencies, today I authorised the secretary of the Attorney-General’s Department to issue a mandatory direction under the Protective Security Policy Framework to prohibit the TikTok app on devices issued by Commonwealth departments and agencies,” Attorney General Mark Dreyfus said in a statement.
Dreyfus said the ban would come ‘as soon as practicable,’ and the state governments have already announced their cooperation with the mandate.
In Case You Missed It: ‘Ban other apps on government phones, not just TikTok,’ experts say
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said they will follow the federal government’s advice.
“We’ve always said we’ll follow the Commonwealth’s guidance when it comes to cybersecurity – and we’ll now work on implementing these changes across the public service as soon as possible,” a spokesperson for Premier Daniel Andrews said in an ABC News article.
Meanwhile, New South Wales premier Chris Minns said he will no longer use TikTok and has asked the appropriate departments to implement the ban as soon as possible. Minns also said they will be conducting a risk assessment in consultation with Cyber Security NSW to cater to ‘legitimate business reasons’ where TikTok is still critical.
“There will be cases where apps such as TikTok are needed for communication to the community – for example public health and safety messaging. The NSW Government will be implementing a number of mitigations to ensure that the security risk of this use is managed appropriately,” Minns said in a media release.
Meanwhile, an ACT government spokesperson said the territory government would work with the federal government to adopt restrictions.
“The ACT government was notified yesterday of an imminent announcement from the Commonwealth to ban TikTok from Government devices,” they said in a statement.
“Based on the Commonwealth’s advice, and the desirability of national cybersecurity consistency, the ACT government will consider similar restrictions on territory government devices at a security and emergency management meeting of Cabinet tomorrow.”
For now, the Albanese government does not seem to be considering a general ban, and private citizens will still be able to use the app on their devices.
However, the federal government is reportedly considering plans to force TikTok to keep user data in local servers to further allay concerns of Chinese interference in local affairs.
The move is similar to Project Texas, TikTok’s proposal that included spending more than a billion dollars to keep US user data onshore and open to third-party inspection to avoid a general ban.
Meanwhile, TikTok Australia’s general manager, Lee Hunter said the ban was not based on facts, but on politics.
“We’re extremely disappointed with this decision. In our view, this is driven by politics and not by fact,” Mr Hunter was quoted in an ABC article.
“And we’re also disappointed with the fact that TikTok and the millions of Australians who use it every day will find out about this decision through the media, despite repeated efforts from our end,” he said.
Paulo Rizal is a content producer for Comms Room. He writes content around popular media, journalism, social media, and more.
