Australia will announce this week a ban on using TikTok on government phones, like other countries that have banned the Chinese-owned video app over security concerns, Australian media reported on Monday.

The Prime Minister, Antoine Albanian, agreed to ban the use of TikTok on all government devices after the completion of a review by the Home Office, the Australian newspaper reported.

The state of Victoria will also ban the application of short videos on government phones, the newspaper reported. ageciting a state official who said Victoria would follow federal government guidelines.

United States, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Canada, Belgium and the European Commission have already banned the app on official devices for security reasons.

TikTok is coming under increasing scrutiny over fears that user data from the app, owned by Beijing-based company ByteDance, may end up in the hands of the Chinese government, undermine Western security interests.

Tiktok Australia CEO Lee Hunter said age that the company was disappointed to learn of the media ban “despite our repeated offers to engage constructively with the government on this policy.”

“We insist that there is no evidence to suggest TikTok poses a safety risk to Australians and should not be treated any differently than other social media platforms.”

Meanwhile, last week andPresident Andrés Manuel López Obrador ruled out the ban on using the social network Chinese owned ICT Tac in the country, arguing that his government guarantees freedom of expression.

The executive chairman of ICT Tac released last thursday before US lawmakers, who are asking prohibition of the application in the country, because they consider that it is used as a spy tool by China and offers content that can harm the mental health of children.

“Not here, we don’t ban here,” said López Obrador, when asked during his daily conference about criticism from members of the US Congress of the digital platform and the measures taken in other countries against it. .

“Total freedom, We have no such concerns. and the free manifestation of ideas is guaranteed and we do not ban, forbid to ban,” he added.

(With information from Reuters)