TikTok's clock is ticking
Does TikTok pose a genuine national security threat that justifies US moves to ban or force a sale of the app and overrides freedom of speech concerns?
The US House of Representatives vote to ban Chinese-owned TikTok overnight is both a reflection of the parlous state of relations between the two economic powers and a reminder of the online threat vectors that do genuinely exist. It’s also awkward for Australia, which is in the process of repairing relations with China.
Australia’s federal Cabinet has been sitting on its security review into TikTok for months, as Capital Brief has previously reported, but Labor has already banned use of the app on government-owned devices. “We’ll make our own decisions,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said today on ABC Radio. “We’ll continue to look at the advice from security agencies.”
The moves by US lawmakers to ban TikTok may seem puzzling to those who dismiss the short-form video-sharing app as an algorithmic dopamine vendor for teenagers. But TikTok’s 2 billion or so global users (including 8.5 million Australians) rely on the platform not just for lip-syncing light entertainment and memecoin recommendations but increasingly for news and political opinion.
American officials say China’s security laws can compel TikTok to hand over sensitive user data or be used to mount disinformation campaigns. TikTok denies this, but its credibility hasn’t been helped by its priors in tracking journalists covering the company.
