March 18, 2023
The Australian government is expected to ban the popular short form video app TikTok from its devices once a seven-month-long review of security risks posed by social media platforms is completed.
Sources in Canberra, who were not authorised to speak publicly, said Australia would join the United States, United Kingdom and European Commission in barring the app from government phones.
New Zealand made a similar move on Friday, with its parliamentary service banning TikTok on devices connected to government applications, amid growing fears that the app could be used by the Chinese Communist Party for influence operations or espionage abroad.
TikTok has consistently dismissed fears, bolstered by a submission from foreign interference expert John Garnaut this week, as being without foundation. The social media platform insists user data is safe and that it does not moderate content based on any governments’ desires.
But TikTok confirmed this week that the Biden administration had ordered its foreign shareholders to sell the company or face it being banned from operating in the US.
A spokesman for Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil, whose department is conducting the social media review examining TikTok, did not directly address the US government’s move or calls for a ban on government devices in Australia. “The review currently underway into social media use has a wide remit to explore ways of keeping Australians safe and we’ll consider all its recommendations,” the spokesman said.
TikTok is popular in Australia because of its algorithmically generated feed of often trivial or delightful videos, but the government’s 2022 Media Consumption Survey reported about 10 per cent of people also get their news from the platform.
Earlier this month federal opposition cybersecurity spokesman James Paterson confirmed that 25 federal agencies and departments had already banned TikTok from work-issued devices, in a figure first reported by the Australian Financial Review.
Paterson, who is a Liberal senator and hawkish on the CCP, said the government should move quickly.
“The Albanese government must stop dragging their heels and join our closest allies to ban TikTok from government-issued devices – we cannot afford to fall any further behind in protecting government users,” Paterson said. “They must also step up to ensure any solution, including a forced sale, developed by the Biden administration applies to Australian users too.”
The process playing out in the US has complicated the Home Affairs review, with the Albanese government cognisant that it may have to alter its policy response if the Biden administration forces ByteDance to sell TikTok.
Australian officials have been in contact with the Biden administration as the review, which was first revealed by this masthead and is expected to be delivered within weeks, has been taking shape.
The government has said it will not ban the app altogether and in America it is not clear who would buy TikTok if the company is sold, given the challenges of running a social media network, potential backlash from Chinese authorities and the costs involved.
A spokesman for TikTok rejected the arguments for a ban. “We believe the push for bans is based on fundamental misconceptions and driven by wider geopolitics, in which TikTok plays no part,” the spokesman said. “We remain committed to working with governments to address any concerns, but ask that we be judged on the facts and treated equally to our competitors.”
The spokesman added that any divestment would not aid national security. “A change in ownership would not impose any new restrictions on data flows or access. The best way for the US to address concerns about national security is with the transparent, US-based protection of US user data and systems, with robust third-party monitoring, vetting, and verification, which we are already implementing.”
Katherine Mansted, the director of cyber intelligence and public policy at Australian firm CyberCX, said governments were often forced to make decisions on digital security without a “smoking gun”.
“We often are making assessments based on risk, future risk, and ... in TikTok’s case its parent companies linked to the Chinese government because of China’s authoritarian regime, and China’s very tight laws around sharing data with the government, and that influences how other governments around the world see and evaluate risk.”
Mansted, who is also a senior fellow at the ANU’s National Security College, said banning TikTok on government-issued phones was welcome but that other steps could help protect the wider community.
“That’s making sure that we have in this country an open and public conversation about the risks involved in social media use,” she said. “Traditionally, a lot of these conversations about foreign interference, about disinformation, about national security risks happen behind closed doors.”
