American politicians passed a bill that could ban the video sharing app if it doesn’t sever ties with its Chinese owners. Albo said Australia will take advice, but currently had no plans to outlaw the app.
American sea shanty singers and living room dancers will be breaking out in cold sweats today after US lawmakers voted in favour of banning TikTok in the Land of the Free. But TikTok users Down Under need not worry, yet.
The US House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill that gives TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance six months to divest its US assets or face a ban.
The bill has received the backing of US President Joe Biden but needs to pass through the Senate, where it might have a more bumpy passage. Ironically, Biden has been using TikTok to appeal to younger voters in the lead up to the US election.
TikTok is used by 170 million Americans and any move to ban it is likely to face a huge public outcry.
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the bill is not designed to ban TikTok, rather change its ownership.
“It’s a question of ownership. Do we want TikTok, as a platform, to be owned by an American company or owned by China? Do we want the data from TikTok – children’s data, adults’ data – to be staying here in America, or going to China?” Mr Sullivan said in a press briefing.
Today, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told Sydney Radio WSFM that there are “no plans” to ban TikTok in Australia.
“We haven’t got advice at this stage to ban it, we don’t use TikTok on government phones and that is an appropriate measure that we’ve put in place.
“We’ll make our own decisions [and] continue to look at the advice from security agencies.”
TikTok welcomed Albanese’s comments. A spokesperson told B&T: “Any changes to TikTok in Australia would have a significant impact on the 350,000 businesses and more than 8.5 million Australians who use the app to connect and grow their businesses.
“Action being taken in the US is not based on fact, and we are hopeful that the US Senate will consider the impact on the millions of small businesses and 170 million Americans who use the service.”
TikTok users will hope Albo, whose Taylor Swift dance moves feature on video-sharing app, will be able to ‘shake off’ pressure to outlaw the app if the US kills it.
@jpthreeseventy Albo Shaking It Off #taylorswift #albo #anthonyalbanese #swiftie #erastourtaylorswift
