March 15, 2024
Anthony Albanese says his Government has no plans to outlaw TikTok after the US took a huge step towards banning the popular social media app.
The Prime Minister was quizzed on the future of videosharing platform after the US House of Representatives voted to pass a Bill to ban it.
Legislation in the US would prevent users from accessing the app unless TikTok splits from its Chinese-owned parent company ByteDance.
In Australia the app is already prohibited from government devices but Mr Albanese said on Thursday morning he had "no plans" to impose a ban beyond that.
"I think you've got to be pretty cautious. You've always got to have national security concerns front and centre, but you also need to acknowledge that for a whole lot of people, this provides a way of them communicating," Mr Albanese said.
"We haven't got advice at this stage to do that (ban TikTok).
We don't use TikTok on government phones, and that is an appropriate measure that we're putting in place.
"You need to have an argument for it, rather than automatically just ban things . . .
TikTok isn't compulsory by the way." Opposition Leader Peter Dutton urged the Prime Minister to "show leadership" but stopped short of calling for a TikTok ban.
"Young people who are using TikTok are having their personal details collected their images, their most intimate discussions," he said.
"Whether that's being collected either by a country or by a third party, the prime minister has to act." The legislation in the US still has to pass the Senate, but President Joe Biden said he was prepared to sign the Bill into law if both Houses gave it the green light.
Shadow cybersecurity minister James Paterson said Australia could not afford to be "left behind", and the Government should have "already sent drafting instructions" to the Department of Home Affairs so it could prepare "equivalent legislation" for Australia.
"What this legislation does is it severs the relationship between TikTok and its Chinese company ByteDance and therefore breaks the relationship, the nexus, between the Chinese Communist Party and what has become the most dominant source of news and information in the world for young people," Senator Paterson told Sky News.
"They have a pathway here to remain active in the US, just as if we passed this legislation, they'd have a pathway to remain active in Australia." TikTok is the latest social media platform in the Australian spotlight after Facebook's parent company Meta's decision to walk away from renegotiating deals that would hurt the bottom line of the local news industry.
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said on Wednesday that Australians had been served the "middle finger" by Facebook as the Albanese Government attempted to force the firm to pay for local news content.
"This will be devastating to Australian publishers. It will have a profound impact on the quality of news media in this country - in terms of its impact and reach in the Australian community," Ms Rowland said.
Speaking in an interview set to air on Sky News Australia on Wednesday evening, Ms Rowland said Meta's decision to walk away from renegotiating deals would also hurt the bottom line of the local news industry.
"What (Meta's decision) will actually mean is a significant decline in revenues for Australian news media publishers," she said.
You need an argument for it, rather than just ban things . . . TikTok isn't compulsory by the way.
