Follow Allied Countries, Australia Bans The Use Of TikTok On Government Phones

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese agreed to ban the use of TikTok. (photo: Twitter @AlboMP)

JAKARTA - The Australian government will ban the use of the TikTok app on government mobile phones, following the policies of other countries which also prohibit the use of China's video app for security reasons.

According to a Australian newspaper report, The Australian, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese agreed to ban the widespread use of TikTok throughout the government after a review by the Department of Homeland Security was completed.

The state of Victoria will also ban the use of the short video app on government mobile phones, following the direction of the federal government.

The United States, Britain, New Zealand, Canada, Belgium, and the European Commission have banned this app from official devices due to security concerns.

TikTok is increasingly in the spotlight over concerns that user data from apps owned by Beijing-based ByteDance companies could fall into the hands of the Chinese government, threatening the security of Western countries.

The general manager of TikTok Australia, Lee Hunter, told The Age newspaper that his party was disappointed to learn about this ban through the media "although we have offered to have several dialogues with the government on this policy."

"Australian TikTok's ties to China do not pose a security risk to Australia and this application should not be treated differently from other social media platforms," he said.