April 5, 2023
Karen Barlow, Natalie Vikhrov and Jasper Lindell
The Canberra Times
Wednesday 5 April 2023
The Federal government will ban the popular social media app TikTok on all devices issued by Commonwealth departments and agencies as reports emerge of a Beijing invite for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
The move, confirmed by Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, follows the United States, Canada and the European Union prohibiting government employees from having TikTok on work-issued devices,
Concerns over TikTok relate to the potential for data to be harvested and accessed by the Chinese government under national laws that can compel companies to hand over information. The ban came after advice from Australian intelligence and security agencies.
In a statement, Mr Dreyfus said "exemptions will only be granted on case-by-case basis and with appropriate security mitigations in place".
An Attorney-General department spokesperson said the ban applied to government devices issued to contractors.
South China Morning Post reported that Beijing has issued an "in principle" invitation for Mr Albanese to visit later this year.
There are expectations that the Prime Minister will visit China this year after cooling relations and visits from state and federal representatives, including Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews. The Canberra Times has reached out to the Prime Minister's office over the reported invite. Mr Albanese has previously said he was open to visiting China.
The government decision on TikTok is expected to anger China. The Canberra Times has reached out to the Chinese embassy in Canberra for comment.
Opposition cybersecurity spokesman James Paterson welcomed the government decision but said it didn't go far enough to protect Australians.
"Now that this risk is being addressed, we must urgently turn our attention to the broader cyber security and foreign interference threat posed by TikTok to the millions of other Australian users," he said in a statement.
Public Service Minister Katy Gallagher said the decision concerned government-issued-devices but people needed to familiarise themselves with risks that certain apps and social media carried.
"There is a whole lot of information that people can access about that if they choose to, online through e-safety and through some other government websites," she said.
TikTok Australia and New Zealand preempted the decision, calling it a move "driven by politics".
Its general manager Lee Hunter said the company was "extremely disappointed by the decision".
App owner ByteDance denies its user data can be supplied to Beijing.
