Melbourne woman banned from Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin over TikTok terror attack ‘joke’

A Melbourne teenager has been banned from flying after posting a “joke” about committing a terrorist attack on TikTok while boarding a flight to Queensland.

A Virgin Australia plane takes off at Sydney Airport. Picture: Christian Gilles/NCA Newswire

A Melbourne teenager has been banned from Jetstar, Qantas and Virgin after posting a “joke” about committing a terrorist attack on TikTok while boarding a flight to Queensland.

The Australian Federal Police say the 19-year-old woman’s video “prompted multiple calls to the National Security Hotline, and a rapid response from AFP, Victoria Police and Queensland Police Service”.

“Regardless of intent, jokes about committing a terrorist attack and airline security are never a laughing matter and may have unintended consequences,” the AFP said in a statement on Wednesday.

“Anyone with information about extremist activity or possible threats to the community should come forward, no matter how small or insignificant you may think the information may be. The National Security Hotline is 1800 123 400.”

Qantas and Virgin have been contacted for comment.

The woman has been banned from Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin. Picture: Brendan Radke

TikTok, a video-sharing platform owned by Chinese company ByteDance, is now used by nearly 2.5 million Australians, according to Roy Morgan Research data from October.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has previously warned that parents and user should know the “extension cord goes back to China”, but ruled out a ban on the app despite concerns over data theft.

“Well, we have had a good look at this and there is no evidence for us to suggest having done that, that there is any misuse of any people’s data that has occurred, at least from Australian perspective, in relation to these applications,” he said in August.

“You know, there’s plenty of things that are on TikTok which are embarrassing enough in public – it’s that sort of a social media device. That said, I think our response is that Australians have to be very aware, and it’s not just with TikTok and things like that. But I think people should understand and there’s a sort of a buyer beware process.”