April 20, 2023
The government should consider a total ban of TikTok altogether to address national security concerns posed by the app, a senior US government official has told Australian senators.
Brendan Carr, the US Federal Communications Commissioner, told a federal parliamentary inquiry examining foreign interference of social media apps in Canberra on Thursday that unless TikTok was willing to undergo genuine divestiture, countries like Australia and the US needed to consider total bans.
The federal government banned TikTok on all government devices earlier this month, following the lead of US and other western allies.
The conversation in the US – spearheaded by Mr Carr – has now turned to a total ban, a step he believes “Australia should take as well”.
Mr Carr said TikTok posed a major national security risk that left nations with very little wiggle room.
“Some sort of rifle shot legislation that imposes a ban or a genuine divestiture is the way forward right now with a ban on TikTok for federal devices,” he said.
“The other (option) would be genuine divestiture, elimination of all corporate ties back to China."
TikTok is owned by parent company ByteDance, which has its headquarters in Beijing. Concerns have long been raised about how the app’ is beholden to Chinese security laws, specifically that data must be shared should the Chinese government request it.
Committee chair James Paterson – who was been vocal in his calls for restricting the availability of TikTok in Australia – said in his opening statement that while social media had the capacity to do good, apps coming out of authoritarian regimes posed huge risks.
