New Zealand to ban TikTok on devices with access to parliamentary network

TikTok will be banned on all devices with access to New Zealand’s parliamentary network by the end of March, said Parliamentary Service Chief Executive Rafael Gonzalez-Montero.

TikTok has come under increasing scrutiny due to fears that user data from the app owned by Beijing-based company ByteDance could end up in the hands of the Chinese government, undermining Western security interests.

Britain on Thursday banned the app on government phones with immediate effect. Government agencies in the US have until the end of March to delete the app from official devices.

Also read | ETtech Explainer: is TikTok staring at a potential ban in the US?

Gonzalez-Montero, in an email to Reuters, said the decision was taken after advice from cybersecurity experts and discussions within government and with other countries.

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“Based on this information the Service has determined that the risks are not acceptable in the current New Zealand Parliamentary environment,” he said. Special arrangements can be made for those who require the app to do their jobs, he added.

TikTok US ban

TikTok is embroiled in a difficult battle with the US government and different US regulators, with most of them strongly suggesting a blanket ban on the app. A White House-backed Bill was introduced by a dozen senators to give the Joe Biden administration new powers to ban Chinese-owned video app TikTok and other foreign-based technologies if they pose national security threats.

The Bill would give the Commerce Department the ability to impose restrictions up to and including banning TikTok and other technologies that pose national security risks said Democratic Senator Mark Warner.

In addition, the US government’s Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), a powerful national security body, in 2020 unanimously recommended ByteDance divest TikTok because of fears that user data could be passed on to China’s government, and has been at the forefront of executing the ban.

However, some legislators are against the blanket ban and want a dialogue with the firm to continue for better solutions.