Australia Bans DeepSeek on Federal Government Devices

In a major decision to protect its national security, Australia’s Department of Home Affairs (DHA) has banned the use of China’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) chatbot app DeepSeek on federal government devices.

Other countries such as Taiwan, Italy, and some US federal agencies have already blocked DeepSeek on government devices, and the New South Wales government in Australia has followed suit, with other states reportedly considering similar measures. The ban has sparked a wider conversation about the risks of AI-driven tools and their potential to be used for surveillance or manipulation, especially in the context of geopolitical tensions.

In its policy document, the DHA has warned that the DeepSeek conducts “extensive collection of data and exposure of that data to extrajudicial directions from a foreign government that conflict with Australian law.”

DHA Secretary Stephanie Foster said that after considering threat and risk analysis, she has concluded that the use of DeepSeek products, applications and web services posed an unacceptable level of security risk to the Australian Government.

“As of Wednesday all non-corporate Commonwealth entities must identify and remove all existing instances of DeepSeek products, applications and web services on all Australian Government systems and mobile devices,” Foster added.

Only agencies engaged in national security or regulatory work are allowed to access DeepSeek’s products, and even then they need special permission to do so, the department said.

According to a report in Firstpost, DeepSeek was launched last month and grabbed the attention of the users on global app stores. However, an analysis in January by Guardian Australia revealed that the chatbot was programmed to avoid sensitive political topics, such as the Tiananmen Square massacre and the Umbrella Revolution.

Financial Consequences

The bot’s rapid rise in popularity also had significant financial consequences. On its launch day, the app’s impact on the market was stark, with $1 trillion wiped from the leading US tech index. This has only added to the concerns surrounding the chatbot’s potential influence, with experts warning that its widespread use could have far-reaching implications for both privacy and security.

The DHA’s policy document also said that while the current approach of taking down harmful material, setting expectations for industry through the unenforceable Basic Online Safety Expectations and enforceable codes and standards has helped many, it has not been able to cope with the scale of problems in the online world.

This is terrific but it is an issue that has been with us and growing for around a decade, and its reforms still don’t cover all of its services. It shouldn’t have taken until this year, a year where the media has had an enormous focus on harms like sextortion and whether to limit online access for young people, for action to be taken.

It may be recalled that the Australian government has banned Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei from its national 5G network in 2018, citing national security concerns. TikTok was banned from government devices in 2023 on the advice of Australian intelligence agencies.