Australia has not received advice to ban TikTok from govt devices: Treasurer

Australia has not received advice from its security agencies to follow the example of the United States, the European Parliament and Canada to ban Chinese video-sharing app TikTok from government devices, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said on Wednesday.

Canada banned TikTok from government-issued devices on Monday and the following day the European Parliament banned the app from staff phones citing concerns over who could access user data. The White House on Monday gave government agencies 30 days to ensure they do not have TikTok on federal devices.

“We’ll take the advice of our national security agencies. That hasn’t been the advice to date,” Chalmers told ABC television, when asked if the government would consider a government-wide ban on TikTok.