The offices of Finance, Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Prime Minister and Cabinet are among the 25 government departments and agencies that have banned TikTok from work-issued devices.

This was revealed by an audit of Australia’s governmental departments and agencies led by Liberal senator James Paterson, which shows 25 departments and agencies banned the app from work-related devices, while 12 had issued a “partial ban”.

Paterson is chairing the Senate Select Committee on Foreign Interference Through Social Media, which calls for a clear and consistent banning. He said the audit “revealed a haphazard and inconsistent approach to banning the social media app TikTok from government-issued devices”.

“The risks posed by this app have been apparent for some time, particularly since their July 2022 admission about user data, and the revelations in December that employees of TikTok in China used the app to spy on journalists writing critical articles about the company and lied about doing so,” he said.

Australia is following Canada, and the EU, who in recent weeks barred all government staff from using the app. The US Senate passed legislation in December banning the app from all US government devices.

“The Albanese government must now finally act,” Paterson said.

“TikTok should be banned on all federal government devices unless exceptional circumstances exist.”

TikTok, in its submission to the Senate committee, said that its country of origin shouldn’t be a factor.

“As we embrace the opportunity to contribute to these discussions, we note as well that much has been made of our company’s Chinese heritage. We are proud of our heritage, and it’s important to note that we operate no differently to other global companies and claims to the contrary are unsubstantiated by evidence,” TikTok said.

“As this submission details, and as even a cursory search of our platform for politically contentious subject matter will reveal, we do not moderate content on TikTok based on the political sensitivities of any government, including China’s.

“For example, our users can readily find content on our app which contradicts the official Chinese government position on contemporary events, including the recent shooting down of a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon over the United States.”

Minister for Home Affairs Clare O’Neil will receive advice from the Senate Committee during this current quarter.