Amid security concerns, Australia to ban TikTok on government devices

Australia’s federal government will ban video-sharing application TikTok on government devices over fears that the application’s security could be compromised and the platform could be used for foreign interference by China, ABC News reported. Australia becomes the last nation in the “five eyes” intelligence alliance to block the app after similar decisions were taken by the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and New Zealand. Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus has announced that the ban will come into effect “as soon as practicable.” He further stated that exemptions will be made on a case-by-case basis, as per the ABC News report. In a statement, Mark Dreyfus said, “After receiving advice from intelligence and security agencies, today I authorised the secretary of the Attorney-General’s Department to issue a mandatory direction under the Protective Security Policy Framework to prohibit the TikTok app on devices issued by Commonwealth departments and agencies.” Earlier on Tuesday, the Victorian and ACT governments stated that they expected an imminent ban, as per the news report. A spokesperson for Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said they will follow the Commonwealth’s guidance with regard to cybersecurity and they will now work on implementing these changes “across the public service as soon as possible.” According to the ACT government’s spokesperson, the territory government will work with the government to implement restrictions. In a statement, they said, “The ACT government was notified yesterday of an imminent announcement from the Commonwealth to ban TikTok from Government devices,”