Banned: Exactly what's going on with TikTok in Australia.

There's some spicy drama surrounding TikTok.

It's due to the news from the Australian Government this week that TikTok will be banned from all federal government devices.

The Attorney-General gave a mandatory direction to Commonwealth departments to ban the social media app. They've said the direction will come into effect "as soon as practicable" and exemptions will only be granted on a case-by-case basis.

So how exactly did they come to this drastic call?

Well, it has everything to do with advice from national security and intelligence agencies.

But with around eight million Aussies on TikTok right now, many are asking themselves whether their personal data is safe — and if we really need to be concerned.

Watch: The Australian/New Zealand GM of TikTok speaks about the app being banned on Australian Government devices. Post continues below.

First and foremost — what exactly is happening with TikTok and the Australian Government?

The ban of TikTok on all federal government devices was announced on Tuesday. 

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said the call had been made after receiving advice from intelligence and security agencies.

The concerns relate to worries about spies, and the potential for TikTok data to be harvested and accessed by the Chinese government under Chinese national laws that can compel companies to hand over information.

Since the announcement, the Attorney-General has remained pretty quiet on the matter, likely because he can't comment publicly on the nature of the direct advice given to him regarding national security.

"I see this in terms of taking decisions that are in Australia's best interests and with national security at the heart of them," he said to Sky News.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, who has more than 100,000 TikTok followers, has confirmed he will delete his account. He said his government would follow the lead of its federal counterparts on matters of national security.

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Australia's ban follows several nations which have already stopped the app from being used on government devices. Just some examples where similar rules have been actioned include in New Zealand, Belgium, Canada, some parts of the US, India and the European Commission/European Parliament.

The United Kingdom has also done the same as Australia and said their reasoning was due to TikTok users being required to give permission for the app to access data stored on the phone — which is then collected and stored by the Chinese-owned company ByteDance. 

It's a growing issue for TikTok. Although it doesn't directly impact the general public, these rules for government workers don't exactly inspire confidence or trust.

And that's something that the General Manager of TikTok for Australia and New Zealand, Lee Hunter, has been pushing back against. 

What's the go for the general public who are TikTok users?

For the general public in Australia, they're allowed to use TikTok however (if ever) they please. 

In the wake of the Australian Government ban, Hunter has stressed that Aussies are "absolutely safe on TikTok".

"We care deeply and we are absolutely focused on their privacy and security. We are finding this out through the media," he explained on the Today Show, saying TikTok had not been made aware of the ban prior to news reports.

"It's been very disappointing. These actions are being undertaken without any facts, without any evidence to support the fact that we're a nationals security risk in any way."

Trevor Long is a tech expert and the Editor of technology and men's lifestyle website EFTM.com. He recently explained on The Quicky why the general public shouldn't be too concerned.

Listen to The Quicky. Post continues after audio.

And interestingly, the way that TikTok gathers data — such as your location, contacts, content you're interested in, how long you're on the app — is not that dissimilar to the practices of other social media apps. 

The issue instead, lies with the ownership of TikTok.

Long said that the biggest potential of a hack' is TikTok taking your contact list data, which users do have to say 'yes' or 'no' to anyway when they login in for the first time. So the credibility of a hack, Long said, is slim.

"There's no back door that the developers have into your phone to access the messages you've been sending or install from software onto your phone," he explained.

"I think we should be as worried about TikTok as we are about Google and Facebook. There's no proof of the Chinese government ever looking at anyone's information or using the app [TikTok] or the company to do anything of that sort. We're literally talking in theories."

As cyber security expert, Alastair MacGibbon, said to ABC Radio: "This is not around things made in China, as it's often depicted. This is an argument about things controlled by China."

TikTok GM Lee Hunter shared a similar perspective, saying: "If we're being singled out purely because of our country of origin, I think there are some big questions to answer around that. We don't think it's fair. We deserve to have that dialogue with the government."

Greens senator David Shoebridge believes this is more of an issue of politics rather than safety. 

"Banning TikTok from government devices is a publicity stunt which masks the fact our data is being exploited by every corporation that can get its hands on it — social media platforms, health apps, the games our children play," he said to AAP. 

So should we be concerned about TikTok?

For tech expert Trevor Long, he said that not getting too caught up in the "scare-mongering" is key. Rather, the focus should perhaps be on "transparency over algorithms" for social media apps more generally. 

"I spend way too long on TikTok, I love it. I think it's great content and how it empowers individuals to create a piece of content is either a great bit of entertainment or information."

Feature Image: Canva/Mamamia.

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