Australia has banned the use of TikTok on government devices due to security concerns. TikTok claims that the decision made by Australia is politically driven.
- According to Reuters, the decision was made after the Australian government consulted with the Home Affairs Department.
- While the ban includes government devices, Australian lawmakers can still use TikTok on their personal phones.
- TikTok has so far been banned on government devices by:
- The U.S.,
- The U.K.,
- Australia,
- Canada,
- New Zealand,
- France,
- Belgium,
- and the European Commission.
- There are over 8 million Australian TikTok users, according to reports.
- TikTok recently stated that the Biden administration has demanded that ByteDance divest its stake in the company to avoid a full ban.
- Last week, NATO banned its staff from downloading the app from NATO's devices.
- TikTok CEO Shou Chew testified
in front of the U.S. Congress last week, answering dozens of questions
on the company's privacy rules, its tracking of U.S. citizens, location
tracking, etc. The executive denied storing more user data than U.S.
social media companies do.
