June 5, 2023
Sophie Elsworth
The Australian
Monday 5 June 2023
The nation’s two public broadcasters, ABC and SBS, are using dozens of Chinese-made drones that have been black-listed by the Australian and US defence departments over concerns they are linked to the communist superpower’s military.
Drones that are manufactured by billion-dollar company DJI – the world’s largest drone maker – are being used by the two broadcasters, despite many of the company’s devices being either grounded or transitioned out of use by Australia’s Department of Defence, the Federal Police and Border Force.
In a recently published senate estimates question on notice, shadow home affairs and cyber security spokesman James Paterson requested information to determine whether the ABC and SBS were using the DJI-branded drones.
In a published response, the taxpayer-funded broadcaster stated: “The ABC uses DJI drones along with ancillary DJI tools to assist the management of the drone fleet.”
Among the most popular types of drones in use by the ABC are 28 DJI Mavic Enterprise ZOOMs, 18 DJI Mavic Minis 2, 14 DJI Mavic Air 2Ss and 10 DJI Mavic 2 Pros.
SBS also has many DJI devices in use, which includes drones, cameras and related pieces of technology.
Senator Paterson has warned that the ABC and SBS should stop using DJI-made drones and any linked technology immediately, and will be writing to the two broadcasters outlining his concerns in the coming weeks.
“The first issue is a moral dimension – DJI has been sanctioned by the US government for its involvement in the mass surveillance and suppression of Uyghurs in Xinjiang` that has been described by the United Nations as a possible crime against humanity and described by human rights groups as a possible genocide,” he said. “Taxpayers’ money should not be going to a company, which is complicit in shocking human rights abuses of ethnic and religious minorities.”
The Australian reported last week the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade was still using the controversial Chinese drones, but was planning to replace them as “quickly as possible”.
About 1000 HikVision and Dahua drones were removed from government properties nationally, including 88 drones in federal parliamentarians’ electorate offices.
Senator Paterson said using DJI drones posed a “serious cyber security risk”.
“This has been recognised by the ADF, AFP, ABF and the Pentagon, all of whom have acknowledged it’s not possible to technically mitigate or solve this problem with safeguards,” he said.
“The only way to solve this problem is to get rid of them entirely because many of these devices can be internet connected and many of them require software to operate,” he said.
Senator Paterson said it remained a risk that as a drone was collecting data, it could be monitored by third parties, including when the public broadcasters were using the devices to shoot vision for stories about China’s record on human rights.
The AFP’s deputy commissioner Ian McCartney told an estimates hearing last month the AFP was “transitioning out” of using DJI drones.
“To provide some assurances, any risks in relation to these issues have been fully mitigated through the AFP,” he said during the hearing. “It’s a decision we’ve been discussing with our international partners, but also our intelligence partners at the commonwealth level, and it’s a position we’ve been moving to for the last number of months.”
Cyber safety expert Susan McLean said the ABC and SBS should not ignore warnings about DJI devices.
“The people that we need to listen to in relation to national security are Border Force, the federal police and the government, and if they have concerns then we need to follow,” she said.
“We are not special or unique and sometimes we are too scared to take action against China.
“We’ve got to put the safety of Australia and its citizens first, second and third,” she said. Ms McLean noted that while there were concerns about Chinese-made DJI drones, it did not mean that all goods made by China should be banned.
“It’s not like we are going to dump everything that’s made in China, but when there is the ability to gather data then there is a risk,” she said.
“If other countries are concerned then we shouldn’t be an outlier,” Ms McLean said.
The ABC was contacted by The Australian on numerous occasions about its use of the devices, but did not respond to questions.
SBS declined to comment.
Originally published as ABC and SBS still using Chinese-made DJI drones despite security concerns
