“No Australian jurisdiction has banned the use of TikTok yet,” a member of the workplace services team wrote on January 3. “But it would seem judicious to remove access to the app on DEECA corporate devices. If the app is being used for business purposes,it is not an appropriate tool,given the security concerns.”
A staff member from the information security team quickly replied with “this is an easy one”.
“TikTok is definitely not something I would approve for use within DEECA. I had previous concerns over this application and how much information it retains.”
Department secretary John Bradley intervened a day after the ban took effect,following questions fromThe Age,in conversations he had with chief information officer Tiffany Wong and deputy secretary of corporate services Graeme Emonson.
TikTok has consistently dismissed fears about its data harvesting as being baseless. The social media platforminsists user data is safe and that it does not moderate content based on any governments’ desires.
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TikTok Australia and New Zealand general manager Lee Hunter said Andrews is one of the most popular local politicians on the app.
“His more than 110,000 followers would no doubt join the millions of other Australians on the platform who would be very disappointed by the federal government if they took a decision to single out TikTok and move to restrict the app,” he said.
“There is not a single piece of evidence to suggest that TikTok is in any way a security risk to Australians.”
Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil is expected to ban the short-form video app on federal government devices,once a seven-month-long review of the security risks posed by social media platforms is completed,followingsimilar moves in the United States,United Kingdom and the European Union.
New Zealand this month barred the app from parliamentary devices,andGuardian Australia reported NSW is considering a ban. No other Australian state or territory has moved to block TikTok.
Some federal departments have already acted without a government-wide ban.
Davis questioned why the state environment department’s secretary had overridden internal advice from staff members and whether that was a political decision.
“Why is Daniel Andrews’ Victoria so far out of step with other states and other nations in its open-door TikTok policy?” Davis said in a statement. “We should follow the expert security advice,which the government appears to be thumbing its nose at.”
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Andrews said he would wait for theCommonwealth to finalise its review.
“I think the best thing to do is wait and see what the Commonwealth government’s national policy settings are. They’re in charge of national security ... and we would wait to see what if anything came out of that process,” the premier said.
“We don’t do things in bits and pieces. If[we’re] gonna do something,it will be done properly. The time to potentially do something is when the national government has finalised its processes.”
Victorian Liberal senator James Paterson said it was concerning to hear that IT staff in the department were overruled following media inquiries.
“The technical risks of TikTok are inarguable,” he said. “Which is why the US,UK,Canada,New Zealand,the EU and many other like-minded countries have taken steps to protect themselves by banning the app from government devices.
“Federal and state governments should follow without any further delay.”
DEECA,DPC and TikTok were contacted for comment.
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