TikTok is once again in the sights of a government. Australia announced on Tuesday that it would ban members of its executive from using the Chinese app on their business devices, joining a series of similar decisions in Western countries over security concerns.
This decision was taken on the advice of the Australian intelligence services, and will be put into practice "as soon as possible", said Justice Minister Mark Dreyfus. The app is owned by China's ByteDance Group, which has a similar but separate app for China.
TikTok acknowledges spying on journalists
Australia is the latest country in the so-called "Five Eyes" alliance to ban members of its government from TikTok, after the United States, Britain, Canada and New Zealand. Similar measures have been taken in France, the Netherlands and the European Commission.
At the center of the fears is a 2017 Chinese law that requires local companies to hand over personal data that would be a matter of national security at the request of the authorities. TikTok said the bans were "rooted in xenophobia," before admitting last December that it had collected personal data to spy on journalists.
The popularity of this short video sharing app has exploded in recent years, especially among young people. Many Australian government departments had previously sought to expand their presence on TikTok to reach a younger audience.
Earlier this year, the Australian government also announced that it would remove Chinese-made CCTV cameras from politicians' offices, also for security reasons.
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