SYDNEY – The Australian government said on Tuesday that it would remove TikTok from all federal government-owned devices, following many other countries in barring the Chinese-owned video app over security concerns.

The ban underscores growing worries that China’s government could use the Beijing-based company, owned by ByteDance, to harvest users’ data to advance its political agenda, undermining Western security interests.

The ban will come into effect “as soon as practicable”, Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said, adding that exemptions would be granted only on a case-by-case basis and with appropriate security measures in place.

With Australia’s ban, all members of the so-called Five Eyes intelligence-sharing network – which consists of Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand and the United States – have banned the app from government devices. France, Belgium and the European Commission have announced similar bans.

The Australian newspaper late on Monday reported that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had agreed to a government-wide ban on the use of TikTok after the completion of a review by the Home Affairs Department.

TikTok said that it was “extremely disappointed” by Australia’s decision, calling it “driven by politics, not by fact”. 

“There is no evidence to suggest that TikTok is in any way a security risk to Australians and should not be treated differently to other social media platforms,” TikTok’s Australia and New Zealand general manager Lee Hunter said.

Australia-China ties

In 2018, Australia banned China’s Huawei from providing equipment during the roll-out of 5G networks in the country, riling its largest trading partner.

Ties soured further after Canberra called for an independent probe into the origins of Covid-19. China responded by imposing tariffs on Australian commodities.

Lawmakers can still use TikTok on their personal phones but some, including federal government Services Minister Bill Shorten and Victoria state Premier Daniel Andrews, have decided to delete their TikTok accounts.

The state of Victoria will also ban the short video app from government phones, The Age newspaper reported, citing a state government official.

TikTok has come under pressure as more countries ban the app on government-owned phones. US lawmakers in March grilled TikTok chief executive Chew Shou Zi during a testimony before Congress about potential Chinese influence over the platform and the app’s influence on children.

TikTok has said that the administration of President Joe Biden demanded its Chinese owners divest their stakes or face a potential US ban. REUTERS