New NSW Labor Prime Minister Chris Minns has deleted his TikTok account as the state follows in the footsteps of the federal Labor Party in banning the Chinese social media app on government-issued devices.

Minns said the decision follows advice from the Commonwealth.

On Tuesday, Federal Attorney General Mark Dreyfus issued a directive to remove the TikTok app from Commonwealth-issued devices used by government officials and politicians, saying it poses a “significant protective security risk.”

Other states and territories are expected to follow. All five countries in the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing group — Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK, and the US — have now banned TikTok on government devices.

The NSW Premier, who was a prolific TikTok poster during the recent state election, said he will no longer use the app. His account, which had more than 10,000 followers, was deleted prior to the announcement.

“I have asked Cyber ​​Security NSW to provide guidance to NSW government employees to make this change as soon as possible,” said Minns.

“There will be instances where apps like TikTok are needed for community communication, for example public health and safety posts. The NSW Government will implement a number of measures to ensure that the security risk of this use is properly managed.

TikTok Australia has been contacted for comment.

Despite the fact that China has banned TikTok domestically along with a range of social media apps, Facebook, Whatsapp, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube, a State Department spokesperson described the Australian ban without trace as “abuse of the state power”. of irony.

“China always believes that digital security should not be used as a means to suppress foreign companies in an overload of the concept of national security and abuse of state power,” the spokesman said.

“We urge Australia to seriously observe the rules of the market economy and the principle of fair competition and provide a fair, transparent and non-discriminatory environment for Chinese companies.”

Cyber ​​Security NSW will work in the NSW public sector to lead a strategic implementation of the ban on government-issued devices to prevent people from accessing and installing TikTok.

The prime minister said that in certain cases where TikTok is needed for “legitimate business reasons” – such as for public health and safety posts – authorities should first carry out a risk assessment in consultation with the respective Chief Information Security Officer and Chief Cyber ​​Security Officer . Security officer.

The ban comes just days after the UK data watchdog fined TikTok $23 million for breaching data protection lawwhereby the social media app uses the personal data of children under the age of 13 without parental consent.

Earlier this week, the new state government also announced it would ban mobile phones in schools.