Lee Hunter,TikTok Australia General Manager.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
In a statement issued on Tuesday morning,TikTok Australia general manager Lee Hunter said:“We are extremely disappointed by this decision,which,in our view,is driven by politics,not by fact.
“We are also disappointed that TikTok,and the millions of Australians who use it,were left to learn of this decision through the media,despite our repeated offers to engage with government constructively about this policy.
“Again,we stress that there is no evidence to suggest that TikTok is in any way a security risk to Australians and we should not be treated differently to other social media platforms. Our millions of Australian users deserve a government which makes decisions based upon facts and which treats all businesses fairly,regardless of country of origin.”
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Hunter unsuccessfully sought a meeting with Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil in the weeks leading up to the ban.
Greens digital rights spokesman David Shoebridge blasted the ban as not a “serious reform”,saying it was likely to be “the first hammer blow in an endless game of online whack-a-mole”.
“The data security issues for TikTok are mirrored in pretty much every other social media platform;the difference is that our government is not running a fear campaign against the governments that host those platforms,” he said.
“Banning TikTok from government devices is a publicity stunt which masks the fact our data is being exploited by every corporation that can get its hands on it - social media platforms,health apps,the games our children play.”
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Security directions issued by the government put severe limitations on how TikTok can be used by public servants if they are given an exception to install it for work purposes.
If an exception is granted the app must be set up on a “separate,standalone device without access to... official and classified information” and stored securely when not in use. Photos and videos uploaded by the government to TikTok have to have all additional data about when and where they were made removed and the app has to be removed when no longer needed.