豪、政府端末でティックトック禁止へ

【シドニーＡＦＰ＝時事】オーストラリア政府は４日、政府支給の端末での中国系動画投稿アプリ「ティックトック」の利用を禁止すると発表した。欧米を中心に、安全保障上の懸念からティックトックを禁止する動きが広がっている。（写真は資料写真）
　マーク・ドレイファス司法長官は、「できるだけ早急に」実施するとしている。
　オーストラリアの禁止により、米国主導の５か国の情報機関による多国間協定「ファイブアイズ」の全構成国（米・英・加・ニュージーランド・豪）が、政府端末でのティックトックを規制することになる。
　このほかフランスやオランダ、欧州連合欧州委員会も同様の措置を取っている。
　ドレイファス氏は、適用免除についてはケース・バイ・ケースを基本に、適切なセキュリティー対策が施されている場合には認められると説明した。
　ユーザー数１０億人以上を抱えるティックトックをめぐっては、アプリを通じて収集された情報が中国政府に共有される恐れがあると専門家は警告していた。
　ティックトックは利用禁止の動きについて、「外国人嫌悪に根差す」ものと批判。ティックトックの運営会社は中国政府の所有・管理下にはないと主張している。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2023/04/04-17:05）

Australia said Tuesday it will ban TikTok on government devices, joining a growing list of Western nations cracking down on the Chinese-owned app due to national security fears.
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said the decision followed advice from the country's intelligence agencies and would begin as soon as practicable.
Australia is the last member of the secretive Five Eyes security alliance to pursue a government TikTok ban, joining its allies the United States, Britain, Canada and New Zealand.
France, the Netherlands and the European Commission have made similar moves.
Dreyfus said the government would approve some exemptions on a case-by-case basis with appropriate security mitigations in place.
Cyber security experts have warned that the app -- which boasts more than one billion global users -- could be used to hoover up data that is then shared with the Chinese government.
Surveys have estimated that as many as seven million Australians use the app -- or about a quarter of the population.
In a security notice outlining the ban, the Attorney-General's department said TikTok posed significant security and privacy risks stemming from the extensive collection of user data.
Fergus Ryan, an analyst with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said stripping TikTok from government devices was a no-brainer.
It's been clear for years that TikTok user data is accessible in China, Ryan told AFP.
Banning the use of the app on government phones is a prudent decision given this fact.
Ryan said Beijing would likely perceive it as unfair treatment of and discrimination against a Chinese company.
The security concerns are 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.
Beijing has denied these reforms pose a threat to ordinary users.
China has never and will not require companies or individuals to collect or provide data located in a foreign country, in a way that violates local law, foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said in March.
- 'Rooted in xenophobia' -
TikTok has said such bans are rooted in xenophobia, while insisting that it is not owned or operated by the Chinese government.
The company's Australian spokesman Lee Hunter said it would never give data to the Chinese government.
No one is working harder to make sure this would never be a possibility, he told Australia's Channel Seven.
But the firm acknowledged in November that some employees in China could access European user data, and in December it said employees had used the data to spy on journalists.
The app is used to share short, lighthearted videos and has exploded in popularity in recent years.
Many government departments were initially eager to use TikTok as a way to connect with a younger demographic that is harder to reach through traditional media channels.
New Zealand banned TikTok from government devices in March, saying the risks were not acceptable in the current New Zealand Parliamentary environment.
Earlier this year, the Australian government announced it would be stripping Chinese-made CCTV cameras from politicians' offices due to security concerns.