TikTok is owned by Chinese technology company ByteDance

CANBERRA: Australia has banned the use of Chinese video application TikTok on government devices. It became the last country in the so-called 'Five Eyes' intelligence alliance of the US, Canada, Britain and New Zealand to ban the use of TikTok on government devices. Attorney General Mark Dreyfus said in a statement on Tuesday that the ban would take effect "as soon as possible" on the advice of intelligence and security agencies.

TikTok is owned by Chinese technology company ByteDance. It says that the app does not share data with the Chinese government. The European Parliament, the European Commission and the Council of the European Union have also banned TikTok. Members of Parliament and staff have been advised to remove the TikTok app from their personal devices as part of the European Parliament ban. India banned several other Chinese apps in 2020, including TikTok and messaging app WeChat, over privacy and security concerns.