Sunday, August 23, 2026

Australia joins UK, Belgium to ban TikTok on government-owned devices

Australian authorities have banned the Chinese-owned social network TikTok on all government-owned devices.

• April 5, 2023
TikTok
TikTok

Australian authorities have banned the Chinese-owned social network TikTok on all government-owned devices amid growing security concerns and fears that the nation’s official information may fall into the wrong hands.

The ban, announced on Tuesday, will be effective “as soon as practicable,” according to Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, who added that rare exemptions would only be authorised on a “case-by-case basis” with “appropriate security mitigations in place.”

Australia was the last of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance’s five nations to ban TikTok on government-owned devices after the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and New Zealand previously issued similar orders.

Countries like the European Commission, France and the Netherlands also banned the social network on official devices in their nations.

Lee Hunter, general manager of TikTok operations in New Zealand and Australia, said there was no proof that the social network was leaking users’ vital information to the Chinese government.

“There is no evidence to suggest that TikTok is in any way a security risk to Australians and should not be treated differently to other social media platforms,” said Mr Hunter in a statement.

Last month, the company’s CEO, Shou Zi Chew, testified before the U.S. Congress that TikTok was not sharing users’ data with the Chinese government.

We have recently deactivated our website's comment provider in favour of other channels of distribution and commentary. We encourage you to join the conversation on our stories via our Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages.

More from Peoples Gazette

farmers

Agriculture

FG tasks ECOWAS on leveraging financing strategies for agroecology

The federal government has urged stakeholders in the agriculture and finance sectors in the West Africa region to leverage financing strategies to enhance agroecology practices

Katsina State

Politics

Katsina youths pledge to deliver over 2 million votes to Atiku

“Katsina State is Atiku’s political base because it is his second home.”

States

Troops kill one IPOB member in Anambra, recover explosive devices

Troops raided IPOB and ESN stronghold in Ogbaru Local Government Area of Anambra State and killed one of their members.

Beach ‌⁠‍‍⁠⁠‌‌‍⁠⁠‌‌⁠‍‌Volleyball: Nigeria beat Morocco, qualify for Los Angeles 2028 Olympics

Sport

Beach ‌⁠‍‍⁠⁠‌‌‍⁠⁠‌‌⁠‍‌Volleyball: Nigeria beat Morocco, qualify for Los Angeles 2028 Olympics

The Nigerian women’s beach volleyball team qualified for the Olympic Games event for the first time in history after defeating Morocco 2-0 in the 2026 CAVB final on Saturday.

Cocoa seedlings

Agriculture

Ekiti ‌⁠‍‍⁠⁠‌‌‍⁠‍⁠‍‌‌⁠⁠‍⁠⁠‌‌‍⁠‍⁠‍‌LG distributes improved cocoa seedlings to farmers

The chairman of Ikole Local Government Area, Bayo Omojola, said the seedlings would boost earnings and improve farmers’ livelihoods.

PENGASSAN

Economy

PENGASSAN elects Bosun Olabiyi-Agoro as national president

Mr Olabiyi-Agoro succeeds Festus Osifo, who served as the association’s national president for six years.

Calabar

States

Fire guts Calabar mall

The inferno reportedly started around 7:00 a.m. in a section of the mall before spreading rapidly and growing into a huge fire.

CP Ayodeji Faniyan

Politics

2027: Shun thuggery, promote peace, Plateau CP tells youths

Mr Faniyan said youths remain central to democracy and national development.