The WA government will wait for Commonwealth advice before making a decision on potentially banning TikTok from its devices.
British government ministers became the latest stopped from using the Chinese-owned app on their work phones, with the "precautionary" ban imposed effective immediately on security grounds.
Similar bans have also been announced in the United States, Canada, the EU and New Zealand.
TikTok has faced international scrutiny over concerns the Chinese government could access data collected by the app, which the company has dismissed as "misinformation"
It also said this week the Biden administration in the US had threatened banning the platform unless its Chinese owners divested their stakes in the company.
Earlier this month, the Australian federal government faced criticism for "haphazard and inconsistent" bans on the app, with individual agencies imposing their own restrictions in lieu of a public sector-wide policy.
The ABC understands no WA state government departments have yet banned TikTok from its devices.
WA waiting before issuing advice
Premier Mark McGowan does have an official TikTok profile, with almost 40,000 followers, but the account has been dormant since August.
A WA government spokesperson said it had "sought advice from the Commonwealth on any potential security risks associated with TikTok".
"Advice on the installation and use of TikTok on government-issued devices will be appropriately considered following advice from the Commonwealth," the statement read.
"The WA government is committed to protecting the community through strong cyber security measures."
It is understood the state government has been waiting for that advice since at least the start of the month.
It is expected to follow the approach taken by the Commonwealth once it concludes a review into the cybersecurity implications of social media use across the public service.
In response to questions about their approach to TikTok, almost every government department and agency contacted by the ABC referred back to the state government statement.
The Corruption and Crime Commission, Racing and Wagering WA and Office of the Auditor General, said they had not imposed a ban but continued to monitor the situation.
"Schools using online applications through third-party service providers are required to ensure a risk assessment has been completed and that it meets a genuine teaching and learning, administration or communication need," Education Department executive director of statewide services Martin Clery said in a statement.
"Individual schools can also choose to locally block sites and applications themselves or request assistance from the department to do so."
Ausma Bernot researches surveillance and intelligence issues, including TikTok, at Charles Sturt University and said governments should be considering imposing bans on the app's use on government devices.
Chief among her concerns was the potential for the Chinese government to access Australian users' data, as was acknowledged by the platform last year.
TikTok Australia denies it would pass on data
The admission came in a letter written by TikTok's Australian director of public policy, Brent Thomas, to Shadow Cyber Security Minister James Paterson.
"Our security teams minimise the number of people who have access to data and limit it only to people who need that access in order to do their jobs," Mr Thomas wrote.
"We have policies and procedures that limit internal access to Australian user data by our employees, wherever they're based, based on need.
"We have never provided Australian user data to the Chinese government, and we would not provide it if we were asked."
Mr Patterson's letter came after reports in US media that American TikTok data was able to be, and had been, accessed in mainland China.
Government connection 'beyond doubt'
A group of researchers recently warned politicians inquiring into foreign interference in Australia that TikTok is connected "beyond doubt" to Chinese state organisations.
"Our research confirms beyond any plausible doubt that TikTok is owned by ByteDance, ByteDance is a PRC [People's Republic of China] company, and ByteDance is subject to all the influence, guidance and de facto control to which the Chinese Communist Party now subjects all PRC technology companies," they wrote.
Late last year, TikTok said it had not received any data requests from the Chinese government, and yesterday denied any Chinese government interference, telling Nine newspapers the researchers' submission was "wild speculation about conspiracies".
Ms Bernot shared similar concerns to Mr Patterson and the researchers, particularly about TikTok's Chinese parent company, ByteDance.
"These answers are quite vague, they don't give us a lot to go on, they don't give us a lot of transparency, and that is just not good enough yet," she said.
"They [ByteDance] can be requested by Chinese national security and intelligence and public security agencies to share their data to cooperate in intelligence gathering exercises, and they must comply, because otherwise the company will be in hot water.
"If you were a teenager who is just filming dance videos or showcasing your talents online by TikTok, the risk level is much lower.
"But if you are a politician, somebody in state government or federal government then the risk is significantly higher, and this is where you should really be thinking about what data TikTok might or might not be collecting.
"I don't think that this is a China-specific thing. If we saw Instagram doing the same thing and very closely collaborating with national security agencies in the US, we'd probably not be too happy about that either."
Transparency concerns over data collection
The data collected by TikTok could be extensive, Ms Bernot added, referring to a paper publishing by cybersecurity organisation Internet 2.0 last year, which claimed TikTok could access users' locations, calendar, contacts and retrieve information about other apps running on the phone.
Ms Bernot said while many social media platforms collect massive amounts of data, the concern with TikTok was not only the level of data it collects, but its transparency about that information.
"It's not only TikTok, it's Meta, it's any other social media company that's going to pop up in the future, we should be equally cautious of what some negative impacts of having access to so much data could be," she said.
"So it's really about managing that risk and getting TikTok to actually tell Australian users and consumers what the app is doing and what it's not doing before we make that decision that it's actually safe for government officials to be using that app."
TikTok has previously disputed the accusation it collects more data than other social media platforms, and says its use of data is in line with industry practices and helps the app function properly.
