New Zealand is following a number of countries in banning DeepSeek from their lawmakers' devices. Photo / Getty Images
New Zealand is following a number of countries in banning DeepSeek from their lawmakers' devices. Photo / Getty Images
Our politicians will have the DeepSeek app - China’s answer to ChatGPT - banned from their phones from today.
An expert says NZ should go further.
A Parliamentary Service advisory to all Members of Parliament this morning has been forwarded to the Herald.
From Monday, three other Chineseapps will also be blocked from any device on the Parliamentary network:
WeChat (the Tencent-owned social media platform and mobile payments that’s huge in China and also popular here);
Red Note (a TikTok clone that had a brief surge of popularity in the United States last month before President Donald Trump delayed a ban passed by Congress);
CapCut an app for editing short videos that’s popular with TikTok users worldwide. Capcut is made by TikTok’s parent, ByteDance.
“MPs have been informed that applications such as DeepSeek, WeChat, RedNote, and CapCut will be blocked from all devices with access to the parliamentary network,” Parliamentary Service chief executive Rafael Gonzalez-Montero confirmed to the Herald.
“This decision was made by the Speaker with the endorsement of the Parliamentary Service Commission and in line with recent decisions made internationally to ban these applications as well as cybersecurity analysis. Based on this information, the PSC has determined that the risks are not acceptable in the current New Zealand parliamentary environment.”
Earlier this month, Parliamentary Service advised MPs to “strongly refrain from using DeepSeek” while it reviewed whether the app complied with its data and security standards.
That followed Australia, multiple European countries, Japan and various US states banning DeepSeek from their lawmakers’ devices over concerns the app, created by Chinese firm High Flyer, could share compromising data with the Chinese Government.
South Korea went further on February 17, suspending all app store downloads of DeepSeek pending a review of the app’s privacy standards.
China’s Foreign Ministry said companies operating overseas comply with local laws.
Go further?
Earlier this month, Cyber CX chief strategy officer Alastair MacGibbon told the Herald he welcomed the Australian Government’s DeepSeek ban and New Zealand’s (then) pending ban.
But he added: “Both the Australian and New Zealand governments should take this a step further and instruct operators of critical infrastructure to restrict access to DeepSeek on company devices”.
Are our lawmakers considering that option?
A spokeswoman for Shane Reti’s office said, “In his capacity as Minister for Science, Innovation and Technology, Minister Reti is not considering options to regulate such apps.”
Justice and GCSB Minister Judith Collins had no comment.
Copycat?
DeepSeek - a generative AI that acts like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence chatbots - surged to number one on Apple and Google’s app stores after it was released in late January. Its free, open source model means businesses can integrate it with their own software at no cost.
High Flyer said efficiency breakthroughs meant it could develop DeepSeek for a bargain basement US$5.5 million ($9.68m) using older, cheaper Nvidia chips.
But OpenAI has accused High Flyer of cutting corners through “distillation” or bombarding ChatGPT with queries and then copying the results.
AI expert Dr Andrew Lensen said: “We’ve seen a proliferation of countries banning DeepSeek in their government agencies, including for their lawmakers”.
“This is out of a concern that the Chinese Government will use the information that users provide to DeepSeek for geopolitical purposes, potentially exposing sensitive security information.”
While ChatGPT was met with a degree of caution - including MBIE’s temporary staff ban (now lifted) - DeepSeek has caused a much bigger scare, Lensen said.
“But with Trump back in power and the tech oligarchy surrounding him, should we really be trusting American AI products with our data?”
Another AI expert, Ben Reid, noted that DeepSeek’s open source model allowed it to be hosted locally, arguably adding an extra layer of privacy protection over its American rivals.
TikTok: Still banned
In March 2023, the Parliamentary Service said TikTok would be removed from all devices with access to the parliamentary network on the advice of cybersecurity experts.
The ban is still in place, although Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and other elected TikTokers can still use the app on personal devices outside the Beehive network, in posts placed by an outside social media team.
In the final months of his first presidential term, Donald Trump issued a strongly-worded executive order for ByteDance to sell TikTok to an American owner or see the app banned from the US (read it here). He accused ByteDance of sharing data with the Chinese Communist Party. But it was stalled by legal challenges.
After a confidential security briefing, the US Congress - in a rare show of bipartisanship - voted overwhelmingly for sale-or-ban legislation, which was due to come into effect on January 19 this year. The conservative majority on the Supreme Court upheld the measure. In the event, the app went offline for just hours before the returning President Trump, new a reborn TikTok fan - took power on January 20 and issued an executive order stalling the ban for 75 days. Trump said he favoured a US interest taking a 50% stake.
Parliamentary Service chief executive Rafael Gonzalez-Montero. Photo / Mark Mitchell
The Parliamentary Service message to MPs
Dear members,
Following recent decisions made internationally to ban the DeepSeek, WeChat, CapCut and Red Book [popularly known as Red Note]applications, Mr Speaker, with the endorsement of the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) has decided that Parliamentary Service will be blocking these applications from all Parliamentary Service-managed devices.
The DeepSeek application and website will be blocked from the end of today, Thursday 20 February
The WeChat, Capcut and Red Book applications and websites will be blocked from the end of day, Monday 24 February
If you have a Parliamentary Service-issued device, the application/s will be removed from your phone and will no longer be able to be downloaded, from the dates above.
If you use a BYO device (personal but connected to the parliamentary network), the application/s must be uninstalled from your device by the dates above.
If the application/s are still on your phone after this date you will receive a notification that your device is “non-compliant” with policy and you will need to remove the application/s in order to access your Parliament applications.
Please get in touch with [redacted] if you would like to remove access to Parliament’s applications from your device.
If you want to access these applications, you will need to use a personal device not connected to the parliamentary network.
Yours sincerely,
Raf
Rafael Gonzalez-Montero
Tumuaki, Te Ratonga Whare Pāremata/
Chief Executive, Parliamentary Service
Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald’s business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.
