Australia also bans Tiktok on government phones

Australia, like other Western countries before it, has banned the use of the short video app Tiktok on government employees’ mobile phones. The decision was made on the advice of intelligence and security experts due to security concerns, Australian Attorney General Mark Dreyfus said on Tuesday. The designation will take effect as soon as possible. “Exceptions are only allowed in special cases and with appropriate security measures,” explains Dreyfus.

Tiktok is under increasing political pressure because the platform belongs to the Bytedance group from China. The online platform is not from the US and is nevertheless very successful in the West – and therefore a major exception. Concerns are growing in the US and Europe that Chinese authorities and intelligence agencies are using it to collect information from users and use it for inappropriate purposes.

The app has already been banned for use by government employees on company mobile phones in the US, Canada and the UK, as has the European Commission. There is also a bill in the works in the US Congress that could give President Joe Biden the power to ban the app altogether.

New Zealand also recently blocked the app on all mobile phones and other devices with access to the parliamentary network. In Germany, Tiktok is not installed on government mobile phones nor can it be downloaded. (sda/dpa)