The comments came after Coalition cybersecurity and home affairs spokesman James Paterson labelled TikTok a “bad-faith actor” and urged the government to join other countries in trying to remove the influence of the Chinese Communist Party on its operations.
Debate about TikTok has surged after the US House of Representativesvoted last week to force the sale of the platform from its Chinese owner,a stance backed by President Joe Biden but opposed by former president Donald Trump,amid uncertainty about whether the Senate would agree to the bill and whether it could withstand a court challenge.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Saturday that the government had no plans to move beyond existing rules that forbid ministers and government officials using TikTok on phones with sensitive information.
“There are millions of Australians engaged in TikTok,who use it for communication with each other,and we think that you’ve got to think very carefully,in my view,before you start banning things as a first stop,” he said.
Paterson countered by arguing that security officials knew of problems with the platform and its owner,Chinese company ByteDance,because of the way data from Australian users could be sent to China and the potential for the platform to distort democratic debate.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton stepped up his warnings about TikTok last week but did not call for the platform to be banned,arguing instead that it was the prime minister’s job to consider advice from security experts and make the right decision,whether that was a ban or another option.