TikTok is being banned from electronic devices issued by the SA government amid a national crackdown on the social media platform — but MPs and public sector staff will be allowed to maintain accounts on personal phones.
The move follows an announcement from the federal government on Tuesday to ban TikTok on government devices after fears the app's security was compromised, and the platform could be used for foreign interference by China.
Other jurisdictions including Victoria and the ACT have also confirmed they are looking to ban the app on government phones.
SA Premier Peter Malinauskas said he had spoken with SA's Chief Information Officer to get advice following the federal government's move.
The Premier's TikTok profile – which he uses to share snippets of press conferences and promote government decisions – has more than 13,000 followers, but he said he does not have the app on his phone for "security reasons".
"We have already this morning issued an instruction to government employees with government-issued devices that they must delete the app on their device," he said.
"There may be government agencies, government employees, politicians who have TikTok accounts — they can be maintained.
"But what can't be used is a TikTok app on a government-issued device, particularly those devices that have important government information that we don't want in the public realm."
Mr Malinauskas said he could not comment on whether TikTok had already compromised confidential SA government information, but said government data was under "under frequent and regular attack" from hackers.
"The state government is in receipt of security advice that there is a risk," he said.
"We only have to look at the Optus circumstance not that long ago to know that there are very substantial well-resourced hackers who are trying to get access to data through cyber-security breaches."
Mr Malinauskas said the ban did not extend to other popular social media platforms Instagram and Facebook.
Asked whether some government employees would be granted dispensation to continue using TikTok on official devices — such as SA Police detectives conducting criminal investigations — Mr Malinauskas confirmed there would be a "mechanism for exemptions to be issued" on a case-by-case basis.
"But that has to be done under very secure circumstances — strict criteria have to be met to justify that action," he said.
