The Tasmanian Government will move to prohibit the installation and use of the TikTok social media application on government-issued devices, following national security advice.
The move comes as the Australian Government advised earlier this week that key intelligence and security agencies believed TikTok poses significant national security and privacy risks, including the extensive collection of user data.
Premier Jeremy Rockliff said the Tasmanian Government is now working to implement this policy and will be effective as soon as practicable.
"The Tasmanian Government is prioritising the protection of its information, people and assets from any compromise and harm," Premier Rockliff said.
"We will be guided by national intelligence and security agencies on the issue, and continue to monitor national policy settings."
Minister for Science and Technology, Madeleine Ogilvie, said the policy will limit the security risk posed by the platform.
"Agencies have advised the Government of the risks of exposure to directions from a foreign government and we are taking these steps to ensure that we can be confident that Government information and assets are protected," Minister Ogilvie said.
The Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) has provided the following advice in relation to the use of TikTok, which is relevant to the general public:
- Do not use it on a phone that can access any official information, for example, any workplace communication (email clients, MS Teams);
- If a phone does have TikTok installed, keep the phone away from any sensitive conversations; and
Remove metadata (such as location information) from photos and videos before uploading them to TikTok.
