The Coalition has called on Australia to follow the United States and push for the Chinese-owned application TikTok to be sold to a non-Chinese company.
This comes after concerns with the Chinese government’s handling of user data and the use of the platform to spread propaganda and misinformation.
The United States has only threatened to ban the app if owner ByteDance refuses to sell. However, in a majority of states the app is already banned from government devices – as is also the case in Australia.
Lauren Beckman, a writer and commentator on socio-political issues says that the US made a misstep by referring to it as a ‘ban’ as a opposed to ‘regulation’, which has not helped with the overwhelming public narrative on this.
“US action re TikTok is not concerning at the moment, but what happens if they do not comply creates a very different set of circumstances that haven’t necessarily been thought out all the way through,” Beckman said.
The Australian government is working on addressing concerns over privacy with their inquiry into TikTok’s data practices and a review by the attorney-general of legal privacy protections.
Liberal Party Senator, James Paterson, told the ABC that there is far more Chinese government propaganda on TikTok than any other platform.
The Senator said he believes that intelligence agencies were concerned the Chinese government was gathering intelligence from user data.
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland told the ABC that TikTok is always subject to Australian law, and that includes the use of personal information and privacy rules.
Temu, an online megastore operated by Chinese e-commerce company PDD Holdings, is also facing a similar ban in the US.
In addition to concerns over Temu’s data-sharing policies, the company also facing an import ban over alleged forced labour. If allegations are found to be true, it would be in violation of the American Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which prevents good being imported into the US if there is forced labour.
The law is meant to be an accountability measure against abuses of human rights.
