New Zealand lawmakers banned from TikTok amid information use fears

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand lawmakers and other workers inside the nation’s Parliament will be banned from possessing the TikTok app on their government phones, officials stated Friday.

The ban, which requires impact at the finish of the month, follows comparable moves in a lot of other nations.

Nevertheless, New Zealand’s ban will apply only to about 500 folks in the parliamentary complicated, not to all government workers like bans in the U.S. and Britain. Other New Zealand agencies could choose later to impose their personal bans.

International concern about the app comes right after warnings by the FBI and other agencies that TikTok’s Chinese parent firm ByteDance could share TikTok user information — such as browsing history, place and biometric identifiers — with China’s authoritarian government.

New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins stated he didn’t have TikTok on his telephone.

“I’m not that hip and trendy,” he told reporters.

The New Zealand move came on the assistance of government cybersecurity authorities, stated Parliamentary Service Chief Executive Rafael Gonzalez-Montero.

He stated the app would be removed from all devices with access to the parliamentary network, despite the fact that officials could make specific arrangements for anyone who required TikTok to carry out their democratic duties.

“This selection has been produced primarily based on our personal experts’ evaluation and following discussion with our colleagues across government and internationally,” Gonzalez-Montero stated in a statement. “Based on this facts, the service has determined that the dangers are not acceptable in the existing New Zealand parliamentary atmosphere.”

Hipkins stated cybersecurity assistance came from New Zealand’s intelligence agency, the Government Communications Safety Bureau. He stated New Zealand didn’t take a blanket method to all government workers, and it would be up to every division or agency to make cybersecurity choices.

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