February 14, 2023
Australia's premier science agency will ban the popular video app TikTok from work devices following similar moves across other federal agencies.
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation said it had identified TikTok as a "non-business required application" and would soon ban it from the agency's network as well as work devices.
It comes as the popular app was confirmed as banned across the Prime Minister and Cabinet and Foreign Affairs departments after years of scrutiny over its alleged ties to the Chinese government - a claim its spokespeople have denied.
The Industry, Education, Employment and Finance departments have also since applied a blanket ban of TikTok on work devices, as revealed in answered questions on notice by Liberal senator James Paterson.
The departments join Defence and Home Affairs, who banned the app from work devices in 2020 and 2021 respectively.
A TikTok spokesperson last week said the ban extended to other apps as well.
"We understand that there are some restrictions across departments, but that those restrictions apply to a range of social media and messaging apps, not just TikTok," a spokesperson said.
Senator Paterson welcomed CSIRO's efforts to acknowledge the potential security risk but remained concerned over how many Australians users continued to use the app.
"It is good to see more and more government departments and agencies recognise the cyber security risks caused by apps like TikTok," he said.
"But millions of Australian users remain unprotected from an app, which is closely connected to the Chinese Communist Party.
"In 2023, that must change and the senate select committee on foreign interference through social media will lead that charge."
Despite improving relations between China and Australia in recent months, government officials are on high alert over potential espionage attempts.
The Canberra Times last week revealed the Department of Defence and the Australian War Memorial were removing Chinese-linked surveillance cameras as a matter of priority.
Defence Minister Richard Marles said the cameras, which had been there since at least 2018, had been removed but his department was now undertaking an audit to ensure no devices remained.
