New Zealand said Friday it would ban Tik Tok on devices with access to the country’s parliamentary network due to cybersecurity issues.
The move makes it the latest nation to limit use of the video-sharing app on government-related devices.
Concerns have been growing globally about the possibility of the Chinese government accessing users’ location and contact details through ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company.
In New Zealand, TikTok will be banned on all devices with access to the parliamentary network by the end of March.
Parliamentary Service chief executive Rafael González-Montero said in an email to Reuters that the decision was made after advice from cybersecurity experts and discussions within the government and with other countries.
“Based on this information, the Service has determined that the risks are not acceptable in New Zealand’s current parliamentary environment,” it said.
Special arrangements can be made for those who require the app to do their jobs, he added.
Speaking at a press conference, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said that New Zealand operates differently from other nations.
“Departments and agencies follow the advice of the (Government Office of Communications Security) in terms of IT and cyber security policies…we don’t have a blanket focus in the public sector,” Hipkins said.
Both the New Zealand defense force and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said on Friday that they had already implemented TikTok bans on work devices.
A spokesman for the New Zealand Defense Forces said in an email to Reuters that the move was a “precautionary approach to protect the safety” of staff.
On Thursday, the UK banned staff from using TikTok on their work phones with immediate effect’.
Cabinet Office Minister Oliver Dowden made a statement to Parliament that, following a review, all staff must remove the app “immediately” from their government devices.
Last month, the White House gave government agencies 30 days to make sure they don’t have TikTok in federal devices and systems. More than 30 US states have also banned employees from using TikTok on government-owned devices.
This week, the Biden administration demanded that Tik TokChinese owners divest their stakes in the popular video app or face a possible US ban.
TikTok believes these prohibitions they have been based on ‘fundamental misconceptions and driven by broader geopolitics’.
The company also clarified that its user data was stored in the US and Singapore, not China.
Data from TikTok’s European users will begin to be stored in its new European data centers.
Responding to a question about Britain’s and New Zealand’s TikTok bans on Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said the two countries should “stop overextending and abusing the concept of national security.” and provide a fair and non-discriminatory environment”. to companies from all countries’.
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