New Zealand on Friday announced that it would ban TikTok on devices with access to its parliamentary network, becoming the latest country to limit the use of the video-sharing application on government-related devices due to rising cybersecurity concerns. The officials said that the ban would come into effect at the end of the month.
Speaking to Reuters, New Zealand’s Parliamentary Service Chief Executive Rafael Gonzalez-Montero said the decision was made after discussing the matter with cybersecurity experts and other countries.
“Based on this information, the Service has determined that the risks are not acceptable in the current New Zealand Parliamentary environment,” he added.
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In recent years, TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese company Bytedance, has been facing the heat as several government agencies and experts have accused it of sharing user data — such as browsing history, location and biometric identifiers — with the Chinese government. However, the company has denied the allegations and said that it is run independently by its own management, Time magazine reported.
The latest set of bans by numerous countries has come just a couple of months after the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in December last year raised national security concerns about TikTok. The agency’s Director Chris Wray at the time claimed that the Chinese had the ability to control the app’s recommendation algorithm, “which allows them to manipulate content, and if they want to, to use it for influence operations.”
Countries that have banned the use of TikTok
United Kingdom: On Thursday, the officials of the United Kingdom said that they are prohibiting the application on government phones with immediate effect.
In a statement, Cabinet Office minister Oliver Dowden said that, following a review by Britain’s cybersecurity experts, it is “clear that there could be a risk around how sensitive government data is accessed and used by certain platforms.”
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European Union: All three main institutions of the EU, including the European Parliament, the European Commission and the EU Council, have banned its staff members from downloading TikTok on their official phones.
On February 28, when the European Parliament imposed the prohibition, it ALSO “strongly recommended” that its members and staff remove the app from their personal devices.
Belgium: The country’s Prime Minister Alexander De Croo on March 10 announced that his government is issuing orders to ban TikTok from government phones over worries regarding cybersecurity, privacy and misinformation.
He said, “We are in a new geopolitical context where influence and surveillance between states have shifted to the digital world”.
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“We must not be naive: TikTok is a Chinese company which today is obliged to cooperate with the intelligence services. This is the reality. Prohibiting its use on federal service devices is common sense.”
Denmark: The declaration prohibiting “the use of the app on official units” came on March 6 in Denmark after the Defence Ministry, in a statement, said that its Centre for Cyber Security — which is part of the country’s foreign intelligence service — had assessed there was a risk of espionage.
United States: Earlier in March, the President Joe Biden’s administration told government agencies that they have 30 days to delete the app from federal devices and systems. Moreover, it has also threatened to ban TikTok across the country if the social media company’s Chinese owners don’t divest their stakes in it, The Guardian reported on Thursday.
Canada: Soon after the US government’s announcement, Canada also issued orders prohibiting the use of TikTok on government-related devices. The country said that the app presented an “unacceptable” risk to privacy and security.
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India: The country was one of the first ones to prohibit TikTok and other Chinese apps in 2020 soon after 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a confrontation with Chinese troops along their disputed Himalayan border. In a statement, it had said the apps were “prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order”.
Taiwan: In December 2022, Taiwan not only banned TikTok from its government-related devices but also opened a probe into the social media company on suspicion of illegally operating a subsidiary on the island. The allegation was denied by TikTok.
Pakistan: The authorities of Pakistan have temporarily banned the app across the nation several times since 2020, saying that its content is “immoral” and “obscene”.
Afghanistan: In April 2022, the Taliban dispensation in Afghanistan ordered a ban on the video-sharing app and online game PUBG, claiming they were leading Afghan youths “astray”.
