New Zealand bans TikTok from all MPs’ devices

After Canada, Australia, Great Britain and the United States now also New Zealand. The popular TikTok app will be banned from all mobile phones with access to the parliamentary network by the end of the month.

According to media reports, the app will be banned on all mobile phones and other devices that have access to the parliament’s network, including MPs’ phones, by March 31. This was reported by Radio New Zealand and other media. Prime Minister Chris Hepkins said, according to Radio New Zealand, that he had not yet been informed of the parliamentary department’s decision. He doesn’t use TikTok himself.

Company Bytedance has already been banned from government cellphones or MPs’ devices in Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. “Global tensions are running high in the wake of the Chinese spy balloon incident earlier this year,” New Zealand cybersecurity firm CyberCX said, describing the TikTok ban as necessary. “There are legitimate concerns around the world about the Chinese government’s access to and use of TikTok data,” the company said in a statement.