Liberal senator James Paterson says more investigation needed on TikTok’s risk to national security

A Liberal senator says Australia should take note of the US bid to sever TikTok from its Chinese-owned parent company due to foreign interference risks.

Opposition spokesman for home affairs James Paterson says TikTok could pose a “national security risk” due to its link with the Chinese Communist Party, calling on the Albanese government to take more leadership into how it can manage potential threats.

In the US, ByteDance, the Chinese-owned parent company of TikTok, has until January 19 to sell the popular social media platform before it is banned outright in America, however the app has taken the US government to court and says the forced sale is unconstitutional would stifle the speech of TikTok and its roughly 170 million American users.

While Mr Paterson has not called on Anthony Albanese to institute a similar policy, he told Insiders on Sunday more should be done to mitigate its potential “national security and foreign interference risk”.

“The reason why that is important is ByteDance is subject to the control of Chinese Communist Party, particularly in relation to article 17 of the intelligence law which requires the agencies to co-operate and keep it secret,” he said.

Senator James Paterson said the government should do more to manage the potential national security and foreign interference risks posed by the app. Picture: NewsWire/ Martin Ollman

“TikTok will pose a national security risk and particularly a foreign interference risk in our democracy.

“The worrying thing is you might end up with a safer version of TikTok in the US and a more dangerous version in Australia because we have been unwilling to take that action.”

In separate legal action, 14 US attorney generals are also suing the platform alleging it made false claims it was safe for young people, despite it being created with the intention to ensure young people would become addicted to the app.

Documents filed by the Kentucky Attorney-General’s office, which were later sealed but reported by NPR, revealed TikTok executives were knowingly aware features like time-management tools would have little affect in lowering screen time, however were still released and advertised by the platform.

In Australia, the Prime Minister has said there are no plans to ban TikTok for civillians, however the app is currently banned on government devices.

Labor is also moving to implement an age restriction for social media apps, with a legislated minimum age set to be introduced into the parliament later this year.

The Albanese government has said it has no intention of banning the app. Picture: NewsWire / Tim Pascoe

On Friday, Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said the onus to enforce the age ban would be placed on social media companies, and underaged users flouting the law would not be penalised.

The government is also considering provision for platforms which are found to be low-risk to young users, in a bid to incentivise platforms to develop age-appropriate versions of their apps.

While Mr Paterson has sparked calls for the Albanese government to take greater measures in mitigating data and misinformation risks posed by the app, Peter Dutton joined the app in September.

To date, the Opposition Leader has amassed 10,700 followers and shared six videos.

Originally published as Liberal senator James Paterson says more investigation needed on TikTok’s risk to national security