Australia bans TikTok on government-issued devices

The Australian government announced today that it has followed the lead of other Western countries and banned video-sharing app TikTok from lawmakers' devices due to security concerns.

Attorney General Mark Dreyfus said in a statement that the decision was made on the advice of intelligence and security experts.

"The directive will come into force as soon as practicable." The ban will apply to all organs issued by Commonwealth departments and agencies."

"Exemptions will only be granted on a case-by-case basis and with appropriate security mitigation measures in place," Dreyfuss said.

TikTok, owned by China's ByteDance, has already been banned on government-issued devices in Canada, New Zealand, Britain and the United States, amid cybersecurity concerns.

The app has more than a billion users worldwide and is widely used in the United States and Europe, raising concerns that Chinese authorities and secret services may use the app to collect information from users or to spread influence. The company denies such allegations.