KEY POINTS:
- An audit has revealed Australian departments' approach to Chinese-owned app TikTok.
- Liberal Senator James Paterson says agencies have a "haphazard and inconsistent" approach to the app.
- Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil is receiving advice from her department.
Australians have been warned their federal agencies have a "haphazard and inconsistent" approach to video-sharing app TikTok, banned in some settings by Australian allies over security fears.
Liberal Senator James Paterson has suggested Labor may be prioritising over taking strong action on the app, after Australia's decision to ban Chinese-owned Huawei from its telecommunications network sparked a rebuke from Beijing.
An audit into government agencies sought by Senator Paterson was released on Monday. It found 25 had banned the app, 12 had imposed partial bans, while another 11 permitted it entirely. He said five agencies had either "failed to answer or directly answer" his questions.
Senator Paterson said the results revealed Australia had fallen, which he has argued is required under Chinese law to share personal data with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
He called for the app to be banned on all federal devices except in "exceptional circumstances".
Liberal senator James Paterson. Source: AAP / Mick Tsikas
'Smoking gun'
, following similar moves in Canada and the European Union.
"The question that the Albanese government ... has to answer is: if it's not safe to be on the phone of a Canadian, or American, or European bureaucrat, [then] why is it safe to be on the phone of an Australian government bureaucrat?" Senator Paterson said.
TikTok's parent company ByteDance has repeatedly rejected suggestions it allows data collected by the app to be shared with governments.
A Chinese government spokesperson last week accused the US of "suppressing" companies and failing to create an "open, fair and non-discriminatory environment for foreign companies".
But Senator Paterson, who is also a member of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, described revelations last year that Forbes journalists had been tracked by ByteDance as a "smoking gun".
"If they can do it to a journalist, they can do it to a public servant or a bureaucrat. I don't think that's a risk we should tolerate," he said.
The company has rejected suggestions it shares data with the CCP.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade does not allow its employees to use it on work devices, except for those in Tourism Australia, which markets Australia to potential foreign tourists.
It's also allowed on devices of workers from Australia Post, the National Museum of Australia, media companies such as the ABC and SBS (the publisher of this story), and the NBN.
The CSIRO, listed as allowing TikTok on its devices, announced last month it will move to ban the app.
Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil has revealed she is seeking advice from Australian intelligence agencies on the issue.
A government spokesperson said a report based on that advice will focus on social media broadly, and will be released in the next few weeks.
SBS News has approached Ms O'Neil's office for comment.
'Honest about the threat'
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said last week the government was aware of the US' decision, but stressed advice from security agencies in Australia remained unchanged.
Senator Paterson said he had not received further information from Labor over the advice, but it was important the government "doesn't hide behind our intelligence agencies".
"Our intelligence agencies are highly competent and highly sophisticated in the advice they provide," he said.
"But it's not up for them to make a policy decision. They provide advice about technical issues, they can tell the government whether this is a risk or not a risk. It's up to the government to act on it."
Ms O'Neil also took the unusual step last month of naming Iran as the country behind a plot to target a dissident in Australia, while ASIO also warned foreign espionage had reached unprecedented levels.
But Senator Paterson said it was "quite easy" to single out countries with limited diplomatic and economic links to Canberra, but "much more sensitive" to publicly rebuke Beijing as the government tries to improve relations.
"They're obviously trying to repair the bilateral relationship, and I want them to be honest about all the threats," he said.
"I don't give the government a lot of points [for] talking about Iranian, or North Korean, or Venezuelan foreign interference, when we all know that the major source is from China."
