Chris Minns announces TikTok ban on NSW government devices

The decision to bar the platform comes two days after the Commonwealth government announced its own ban, citing concerns the Chinese made app could be used for foreign interference.

Premier Chris Minns, who had more than 10,500 followers on TikTok, deleted his account on Thursday morning.

“I will no longer be using TikTok,” he said.

“I have asked for Cyber Security NSW to issue advice to NSW Government employees, to implement this change as soon as possible.”

He clarified the ban on TikTok only applies to using the app on government devices, and public servants and MPs can still have accounts.

“This is about government-issued mobile phones and government-issued technology,” Mr Minns said.

“And we’re doing it because that was the advice from intelligence and security agencies at the Commonwealth level, and that’s the advice I was provided by the state’s security agency in NSW.”

The NSW government ban will stop the app from being downloaded on its devices. In cases where it’s already downloaded, it will be deleted.

State government departments using TikTok to inform the public can apply for an exemption, but only after a risk assessment is carried out.

“There will be cases where apps such as TikTok are needed for communication to the community — for example public health and safety messaging,” Mr Minns said.

NSW joins a growing list of state and territories banning the app from government devices, following Victoria and the ACT.

The federal government banned TikTok on government issued smartphones, tablets and computers on Tuesday.

Australia was the last of the Five Eyes intelligence alliance nations to ban the app, joining the US, Canada, the UK and New Zealand.

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said the ban would come into effect “as soon as practicable”, with exemptions being issued on a case-by-case basis.

“After receiving advice from intelligence and security agencies, … I authorised the secretary of the Attorney-General’s Department to issue a mandatory direction under the Protective Security Policy Framework to prohibit the TikTok app on devices issued by Commonwealth departments and agencies,” he said.

TikTok’s general manager in Australia Lee Hunter on Monday evening told the ABC he had not heard from the government.

“We’re extremely disappointed with this decision. In our view, this is driven by politics and not by fact,” he said.