TikTok Bans Grow as Top Science Institute Cancels App

In this photo illustration, the download page for the TikTok app is displayed on an Apple iPhone in Washington on Aug. 7, 2020. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Australia’s top scientific research agency has become the latest government-run body in the country to cancel the Chinese social media app Tiktok.

TikTok is one of the fastest-growing apps in the world, with an alleged 800 million plus active users. It allows users to film, edit, upload, and share 15-second videos of themselves overlayed with music.

It is believed to have over 1.6 million users in Australia, with over 1.2 million of those users coming from the country’s two youngest generations (born after 1991).

A spokesperson for the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) told The Epoch Times that the agency regularly reviews the identity of appropriate security controls to reduce the likelihood of a compromise.

“The CSIRO works with other relevant government agencies to continually review and identify appropriate security controls to reduce the likelihood of a compromise to our information, services, and assets,” the spokesperson said.

CSIRO headquarters, Limestone Avenue, Canberra. Image supplied by CSIRO

“A decision was made that we will be restricting access to TikTok on CSIRO’s network and devices for this reason. This is in line with similar decisions made by other Commonwealth Government agencies.”

The CSIRO joins a raft of Australian government institutions that have banned the app over security concerns, including the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Home Affairs, the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, the Industry, Education, Employment and Finance departments, and the Australian Public Service Commission.

Decision Welcomed by Opposition

The decision has been welcomed by Senator James Paterson, the Shadow Minister for Cyber Security and Countering Foreign Interference. He said that it was good of the CSIRO to acknowledge the potential security risk but remained concerned over how many Australian users continued to use the app, reported the Canberra Times.

“It is good to see more and more government departments and agencies recognise the cyber security risks caused by apps like TikTok,” he said.

“But millions of Australian users remain unprotected from an app which is closely connected to the Chinese Communist Party.

“In 2023, that must change, and the senate select committee on foreign interference through social media will lead that charge.”

TikTok Tied To Chinese Espionage Regime

Tiktok has been mired in controversy due to concerns about its ties with parent company ByteDance, based in Beijing.

ByteDance, established in 2012, specialises in the development of artificial intelligence. Its founder and now-CEO, Zhang Yiming, declared in 2018 that it would strengthen ties with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

This has raised concerns because CCP laws subject Chinese companies to potential intervention from the state, notably the National Intelligence Law 2017, which mandates in Article 7 that organisations or citizens shall “support, assist and cooperate with the state intelligence work.”

West Australian Member of Parliament, Andrew Hastie, has previously told The Epoch Times that the National Intelligence Law “means the (CCP) can compel Chinese businesses to share information with them.”

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“TikTok is an attractive database of the habits, psychology, (and) personal preferences of over one million young Australians,” Hastie said.

“That’s powerful intelligence to have on our future political, military, business, and social leaders,” he added.

However, TikTok representatives in the United States have said the company’s data centres were outside of China and that no data was subject to Chinese law.

“TikTok does not remove content based on sensitivities related to China. We have never been asked by the Chinese government to remove any content and we would not do so if asked. Period,” the representatives said.

According to TikTok’s published Privacy Policy, the company shares users’ data with partner groups from eight different sectors, including their business partners, payment providers, service providers, advertisers, analytic providers and their corporate group, which includes Bytedance.

They also share data with law enforcement agencies.

Global Concern Growing Over App

The security concerns around the app have created a growing pushback around the world, with multiple countries launching legal action against TikTok, including the Netherlands and the UK. Other governments have threatened to create legislation to ban its use.

In the United States, for example, there is a bipartisan push to implement new laws aimed at banning the app.

Reps. Mike Gallagher (R-Wisc.) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), who chair and co-chair the House Select Committee on the CCP, reintroduced bipartisan legislation to ban TikTok from operating in the United States on Feb. 17.

The Averting the National Threat of Internet Surveillance, Oppressive Censorship and Influence, and Algorithmic Learning by the Chinese Communist Party Act (ANTI-SOCIAL CCP Act) aims to protect Americans by blocking and prohibiting all transactions from TikTok and other social media companies in or under the control of, China, Russia, or several other foreign countries of concern.

Gallagher said that the move and its bipartisan support were denotative of how severe the threat posed by companies tied to the CCP was.

“Allowing the app to continue to operate in the U.S. would be like allowing the U.S.S.R. to buy up The New York Times, Washington Post, and major broadcast networks during the Cold War,” Gallagher said in a prepared statement.

“No country with even a passing interest in its own security would allow this to happen, which is why it’s time to ban TikTok and any other CCP-controlled app before it’s too late.”