April 5, 2023
'Secure data, don't ban app'
Calls to consider a wholesale ban on TikTok in Australia have been rejected amid warnings the move would alienate younger users and fail to address data security concerns on other social media apps.
A ban on all government devices installing the popular social media platform was confirmed by Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus on Tuesday following advice from security and intelligence officials.
The move brings Australia into line with its Five Eyes security partners, but the Albanese government is not following the US in considering a total TikTok ban for the public.
Opposition cyber security spokesman Senator James Paterson welcomed the app's prohibition on government devices, but said "all options need to be on the table" when asked if it should be extended.
"TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a company which is very close to the Chinese Communist Party and is subject to the intelligence laws of China," he said.
Senator Paterson said it would be"trivially easy" for the CCP to order the suppression of content on the platform or to order data harvested from Australian users to be handed over.
TikTok general manager of Australia and New Zealand Lee Hunter said he was "disappointed" by the ban as there was "no evidence" the app posed a security risk.
Greens digital rights spokesman David Shoebridge said the narrow focus on TikTok's data collection signalled a worrying lack of understanding of the risks "pretty much every other social media platform" posed to Australians.
"Each of these apps has largely unlimited, unregulated access to our data, and the Albanese government seems quite comfortable with that," he said.
Mr Shoebridge said young Australians would "rightly" resist a total TikTok ban, which he argued would not actually deal with the broader issue of data rights and privacy.
"Secure the data, don't ban the platform," he said.
Cyber security expert Susan McLean backed the TikTok government ban and said states should extend it to law enforcement and other public sector jobs like health care.
"Either China is a concern, or it's not. It clearly is so the response has to be applied across the board," she said.
But Ms McLean said she did not think Australia would end up banning the app entirely, instead encouraging users to educate themselves and minimise their exposure to data harvesting.
Prior to the government device ban announcement, 66 federal MPs and Senators had TikTok accounts.
Under the ban, politicians and public servants are able to continue using the platform on private phones or on a computer web browser. Agencies with major public funding roles such as health awareness and tourism will also be able to continue creating and sharing content on the platform, provided it is not done so from a government-issued device.
