According to reports, TikTok use has been outlawed across the board by order of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Because to concerns over Chinese espionage, Australia will now follow other countries such as the US, Canada, UK, and New Zealand in outlawing the use of the app on official government phones, according to The Australian.
According to reports, ministers are utilising burner phones to use the well-known app, raising concerns that data may be acquired by Chinese authorities.
The decision, according to Lee Hunter, general manager of TikTok Australia and New Zealand, would be “motivated by politics, not by fact,” and he would be “very disappointed” by it.
In spite of our repeated efforts to engage with government constructively about this policy, TikTok and the millions of Australians who use it were left to learn of this decision through the media, Hunter said in a statement.
We want to emphasise once more that there is no proof that TikTok poses a security concern to Australians and that it shouldn’t be treated any differently from other social media platforms.
“Our millions of Australian users deserve a government that bases its decisions on facts and treats every company fairly, regardless of where it is situated.”
It was a “severe issue,” according to Bill Shorten, Minister of Government Services and the NDIS, last month.
He stated to Today that “the administration is evaluating the social media networks.”
Susan McLean, a cyber security specialist, declared that the software was “not secure to use.”
In her interview with Today, she said, “Politicians really need to stand up to the plate and start using more respectable, if you will, platforms where the security of the country is not going to be endangered by their use.”
Because of its location in China, the corporation, according to McLean, is “beholden” to the Chinese government.
This month, New Zealand became the most recent country to impose such a ban on official phones.
The actions were brought on by rising worries that ByteDance, the parent firm of TikTok, will provide user information to the Chinese government, such as browsing history and location, or spread propaganda and false information on its behalf.
