Vienna, Austria – Austria said on Wednesday it will ban TikTok on federal employees’ work phones, joining a growing list of Western nations cracking down on the Chinese-owned social media platform due to security concerns.
The decision followed advice from Austria’s intelligence services and several ministry experts.
Similar measures have recently been taken by the United States, Britain, Australia, France, the Netherlands and the European Commission.
“The federal government has decided to ban the private use and installation of TikTok on work devices of federal employees,” the Austrian interior ministry said in a statement sent to AFP.
“Removing the app is intended to eliminate potential access to government information as much as possible,” the ministry added, without specifying when the measure would come into force.
Private devices will not be affected.
TikTok, which boasts more than one billion global users, is hugely popular worldwide for sharing short, viral videos.
Security concerns over TikTok have been underpinned by a 2017 Chinese law that requires local firms to hand over personal data to the state if it is relevant to national security.
But Beijing has denied these reforms pose a threat to ordinary users.