TikTok bans: will Asia follow West’s lead as US turns the screws on China-linked app?

TikTok bans are all the rage in Western capitals at the moment, as each seemingly follows in lockstep with an earlier order from Washington for the Chinese-owned video-sharing app to be removed from US government-issued phones.

Britain and New Zealand this month banned TikTok from official government devices – a move it is widely believed Australia will soon emulate – weeks after Canada and European Union governing bodies did likewise.

Pressure is mounting on Joe Biden’s administration to ban the app from the US entirely, with TikTok CEO Chew Shou Zi warning ahead of testifying before Congress on Thursday that the company was at a “pivotal moment” in its history.

Analysts say much of Asia – apart from India, which banned it in 2020 – still considers TikTok as “just another social media app”. The response in Japan and South Korea to Western bans on national security grounds has largely been muted, while Singapore’s recent statements about officials only using the app on “a needs-to basis” fit with its existing policies for government-issued devices.

However, that is not to say there has not been a groundswell of concern about TikTok in the region. Some cybersecurity specialists in Indonesia – the app’s second-biggest market after the US – are urging the government to launch a review over spying fears, and Malaysia has raised concerns about “biased and prejudiced” content moderation.