Tiktok is also banned on state-owned mobile phones in Austria

State officials and federal politicians in Austria will have to remove the short video app Tiktok from their corporate mobile phones in the future. The ban is designed to prevent the Chinese operator of Tiktok from accessing state data as much as possible.

Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said this on Wednesday. For state and community politics and administration, there is a recommendation not to use the app for business either, he said.

Karner stressed that politicians and officials can continue to use Tiktok on private devices. In addition, departments such as the Interior Ministry would also inform the public through Tiktok, he told journalists.

Australia, Canada, Great Britain and the EU Commission had previously issued similar rules for the state sector. In Germany, Tiktok is not installed on government mobile phones, nor can it be downloaded.

Tiktok is owned by the Chinese technology company Bytedance. It is not a state-owned company. But critics point out that the Communist Party and authorities in China have many ways to influence internet companies and gain access to their data. (oee/sda/dpa)