Is the clock ticking on TikTok?
Only time will tell…
By Camille Brandon
TikTok – a wildly popular short-form video app that changed the game for content viewing – took the world by storm when it launched.
Since then, it’s jumpstarted careers, become a steady source of entertainment, and transformed the way Gen Z searches for information.
But some governments, including Australia's, are concerned about how the Chinese-owned app could impact national security, saying it poses significant security and privacy risks.
On 4 April 2023, the Australian Government issued a mandatory direction to prohibit the TikTok app on devices owned by Commonwealth departments and agencies.
Following this decision, Contact asked 3 UQ experts if they foresee other employers following suit in the near future and whether TikTok users should be concerned, both for their safety while using the app and for the possibility of a widespread ban in Australia.
Dr Brendan Walker-Munro
Senior Research Fellow, TC Beirne School of Law and Future of War research group
The Australian Government has already issued a ban on TikTok on ‘official’ (i.e. government-supplied) devices. That said, I wouldn’t be surprised if there were also some bans for personal use of the app for employees who work in sensitive areas – tax crime, law enforcement, ASIO, those kinds of roles.
I think the question for other employers will be about risk management. They will ask, “Do we really need our employees to access TikTok for their work?” and if the answer is no, the employer might ban it on work devices.
More collectively, I don’t see Australia issuing a widespread ban on TikTok.
“First of all, when you ban something, you can in fact incentivise it. You drive use underground and encourage precisely the behaviour you are trying to stop.”
Secondly, we live in a democracy where you are free to do things that might harm you – smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol and go skydiving. The government should really only be stepping in where the risks outweigh the intrusion into our freedom of choice.
Although, I think TikTok might have some problems with the upcoming reform of Australia’s privacy laws. Our privacy laws are more than 30 years old, clunky, and horribly ill-equipped for things like TikTok.
But when we reform that law, which the Australian Government has already committed to, then a lot of the data-harvesting practices and overseas transfers of data that TikTok does might become prohibited. TenCent – the company that owns TikTok – could be fined if it doesn’t change how the app works.
So, if TikTok can’t comply with new privacy rules, Australia might even consider banning it, or TikTok could even withdraw itself from the Australian market.
The next couple of years will be very interesting for TikTok’s future.
Dr Marten Risius
Senior Lecturer, School of Business
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award Fellow, Australian Research Council
Details from the Department of Home Affairs' TikTok risk assessment haven’t been released, but it determined that TikTok posed a security and privacy threat when installed on government devices. If we take TikTok CEO Shou Chew’s word during his testimony to US lawmakers, TikTok is ‘not an agent of China’ and the company will take necessary steps to protect the privacy of its users from Chinese government access.
It is, however, difficult to fully take social media companies like TikTok at their word. Following on from the PR disasters and privacy breaches of other social media networks, TikTok has been accused of spying on journalists or discriminating against marginalised groups – despite public claims to the contrary.
In general, I welcome decision-making that errs on the side of caution, especially for government officials. The negative implications and addictive potential of social media are well documented, but the government TikTok ban comes against the backdrop of a broader discussion around banning TikTok altogether.
“In that regard, I urge regulators to carefully weigh the security benefits against the risks to our freedom of expression. Given these considerations, I have to wonder what particular security risks make TikTok stand out from other – apparently non-problematic – social media apps?”
Without knowing the details of the risk assessment, it is ironically worth noting Chew's reminder of our Western values, “Bans are only appropriate when there are no alternatives. But we do have an alternative.”
Associate Professor Stan Karanasios
Associate Professor, Information Systems
UQ Business School
In April, Australia became the latest country to ban the video app TikTok, the Beijing-based business owned by ByteDance Ltd, from federal government-owned devices.
This followed a wave of recent bans on government devices, starting in February with the European Commission, and then with a range of countries such as Canada, the United Kingdom and the US.
From a security standpoint, concerns have been raised about the potential for TikTok to collect data on users and share that information with the Chinese government, who may then use it for political purposes and endanger security interests. Employers should consider these recent actions carefully.
In the European Commission, employees have also been barred from going on the platform on their personal devices that have official apps installed. It also ‘strongly recommended’ that its members and staff remove TikTok from their personal devices. This suggests security concerns go beyond simply access on government-owned devices.
The US may take this even further. It is considering a ban on anyone in the US using the app, as has been the case in India. Australia is likely to consider following suit. This will force employers to respond accordingly.
Given the sensitive nature of government information, it is reasonable to be cautious about allowing apps with vulnerabilities on government devices. The ban, however, brings us into the deep waters of whether other organisations should follow suit.
“The concern goes beyond TikTok, as employees are likely to be using a range of other apps that may have security vulnerabilities.”
For employers, the decision is an information security trade-off between risk and benefit. Do possible risks to the organisation outweigh any potential value that an app provides? Employers need to educate their employees about the risks of using such apps and encourage them to take steps to protect their personal and organisational data.
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