(CNN) Australia has joined other Western countries in banning the use of TikTok on government devices as the Chinese-owned video app comes under increasing pressure over allegations that it is a security concern.
Attorney General Marc Dreyfuss announced the ban on Tuesday after receiving advice from intelligence and security agencies, saying the directive would be imposed “as soon as possible.”
The decision puts Australia in line with its allies from the Five Eyes intelligence coalition – The weAnd Britain And Canada Already announced similar restrictions, while Parliament of New Zealand He also ordered the app removed from all devices with access to the legislature.
Norway f European Parliament They took similar steps, and last week NATO Prevent employees from downloading the app on NATO-supplied devices, according to two NATO officials familiar with the matter.
So far, there is no evidence that the Chinese government has accessed TikTok user data, and no government has enacted broader bans targeting TikTok on personal devices.
However, the The Biden administration threatened to do so in the US unless the app’s Chinese owners, Bytedance, agree to separate their stake from the social media platform.
The US government is concerned that China could use national security laws to access the large amount of personal information that TikTok, like most social media apps, collects from its US users.
During a high-profile congressional hearing on the matter, he grilled TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew about the tech company’s alleged ties to the Chinese government.
Qiu said the Chinese government has never asked TikTok for its data and that the company would deny any such request.
For its part, China’s Ministry of Commerce said it would “firmly oppose” any decision leading to the compulsory sale of TikTok, adding that it would “seriously damage” global investors’ confidence in the United States.
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