The Australian Federal government has also banned the Chinese AI chatbot DeepSeek, citing national security and data privacy concerns. The Department of Home Affairs officially signed this ban on February 4 after receiving advice from intelligence agencies regarding the national security risks this application can pose.
It applies to all non-corporate Commonwealth entities governed by the Public Governance, Performance, and Accountability (PGPA) Act 2013. With the revision in the Department of Customer Services data-handling policies, the New South Wales (NWS) government was the first to ban DeepSeek on January 30. PSPF direction 001-2025 (Protective Security Policy Framework) mandates government entries “to prevent the access, use or installation of DeepSeek products, applications, and web services. They are also required to remove all instances of DeepSeek from all Australian Government systems and devices where found, as they pose an “unacceptable level of security risk” to the Commonwealth Government.
This announcement of the Australian government aligns with similar decisions taken by Italy, Taiwan, and segments of the US military. Although this ban currently does not impact private citizens, it highlights the increasing global scrutiny of this AI chatbot. With numerous governments imposing stricter regulations on DeepSeek, the global AI landscape is transitioning towards enhanced security measures against foreign AI applications.
