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The Australian government won’t be banning the use of TikTok in government-issued devices yet, according to Treasurer Jim Chalmers.
This comes after Canada and the European Parliament successively banned the Chinese social media app from government-owned phones over concerns of suspicious data collection. Meanwhile, the White House has given its federal agencies 30 days to purge TikTok from all federal devices.
“We’ll take the advice of our national security agencies. That hasn’t been the advice to date,” Chalmers told ABC News when asked if the Australia is considering a similar move.
The series of bans from different countries follows growing concerns that the Chinese government could use TikTok as a backdoor to harvest user data and use it in some way to meddle in other countries’ politics.
These fears stem from the fact that the Chinese government requires companies operating in their territories to share data with them. With TikTok’s user base reaching over 1 billion, in 2023, governments are concerned about how user data will be used down the line.
“The bottom line is China has been quite clear that they are trying to mould and put forward the use and norms around technologies that privilege their interests,” she said. “There’s a reason we need to be very concerned,” said US Deputy General Lisa Monaco at a panel in an ABC News article.
China hits back
China has criticised this latest action from the US and its allies, saying that it is “abusing state power to suppress foreign companies.”
“The US government should respect the principles of market economy and fair competition … and provide an open, fair and non-discriminatory environment for foreign companies,” said foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning.
“How unsure of itself can the world’s top superpower be to fear a young people’s favourite app like that,” she said.
For its part, ByteDance, the company behind TikTok said it was “disappointed” that governments were banning their app with “no deliberation or evidence.”
“We share a common goal with governments that are concerned about user privacy, but these bans are misguided and do nothing to further privacy or security,” the company added.
Paulo Rizal is a content producer for Comms Room. He writes content around popular media, journalism, social media, and more.
