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South Korea has joined the growing list of nations and organisations that have banned DeepSeek.
The country’s data protection authority has banned new downloads of the Chinese-made AI app, citing DeepSeek’s failure to take South Korea’s data protection rules.
DeepSeek’s legal representatives in South Korea acknowledged that it failed to address parts of the nation’s data protection law.
The Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) said that once DeepSeek takes into account its data protection legislation, downloads of the app would be resumed.
“To prevent further concerns from spreading, the commission recommended that DeepSeek temporarily suspend its service while making the necessary improvements,” said the commission.
The PIPC added that the changes DeepSeek would be required to make will “inevitably take a significant amount of time”.
The latest announcement follows the South Korean government ruling that government employees should not use DeepSeek on government devices.
Italy, which was one of the first nations to ban DeepSeek, also said its reasoning was DeepSeek’s failure to adhere to the nation’s data protection legislation.
The Australian federal government, as well as state governments, have also banned the platform for government devices.
“The Albanese government is taking swift and decisive action to protect Australia’s national security and national interest,” Tony Burke, the Minister for Home Affairs, said.
“AI is a technology full of potential and opportunity – but the government will not hesitate to act when our agencies identify a national security risk.”
However, Burke added that DeepSeek’s country of origin – China – was not the direct cause of concern. Rather, it was the wider risk the chatbot posed to government assets.
Despite having exemptions from the federal government ban, federal corporations AusPost, the NBN and the ABC have also banned the platform.
The ABC, the nation’s national broadcaster, announced that it would be banning access to the AI chatbot.
“While the ABC is not obliged to adhere to [the federal government] directive, the ABC has assessed the risks to privacy, security and data protection in the use of this service and are in agreement with the directive,” the broadcaster told staff.
The ABC’s ban launched on 6 February and saw the broadcaster instruct its staff to remove the app from their devices.
The NBN also told Information Age that “after careful consideration”, it would be banning access to the platform.
Australia Post also said it was “disabling access to DeepSeek AI on all devices, in line with our commitment to data security”.
All three organisations, like the federal government, cite security risks as the reason for banning the platform.
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