On Tuesday Australia said it will ban video making app TikTok on government devices, joining an increasing list of Western nations cracking down on the Chinese-owned video app due to national security fears.
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said the latest decision followed advice from the country’s intelligence agencies and would begin “as soon as practicable”.
Australia is the last member of the secretive Five Eyes security alliance to pursue a government TikTok ban, joining its allies the United States, Britain, Canada, and New Zealand. France, the Netherlands, and the European Commission have made similar moves.
Cyber security experts have cautioned that the app — which boasts more than one billion users — could be used to clean up data that is then shared with the Chinese government.
TikTok has said such bans were “rooted in xenophobia”, but accepted in December last year that it had collected user data to spy on journalists. The app is used to share short, lighthearted videos and has exploded in popularity in recent years.
Many government departments were initially eager to use TikTok as a way to connect with a younger demographic that is more difficult to reach through traditional media channels.
Earlier this year, the Australian government announced it would be stripping Chinese-made CCTV cameras from politicians’ offices due to security concerns.
