April 20, 2023
TikTok – the social media sensation/Beijing’s data harvesting app of choice – desperately needs a win.
As the US escalates efforts to ban the app completely, Anthony Albanese this month ordered public servants to remove it from their government-issued devices. Unfortunately for TikTok Australia, its lobbyists at the Labor-aligned Anacta Strategies don’t seem to be getting anywhere fast.
Answering questions on notice from Liberal senator James Paterson on Thursday, Home Affairs Minister Murray Watt revealed neither he, his office nor the broader department had met with Anacta to discuss TikTok since the firm was hired in late March.
Maybe they were concentrating on the Department of Finance, which has allowed the trialling of government advertising on TikTok. Though it’s anyone’s guess how they’ll be able to upload anything without the app installed.
