Foreign agents might not be slipping directly into your social media streams but concerns remain about the damage bad actors can do on public networks.
A federal parliamentary committee is about to examine the risk posed to Australian democracy by foreign interference through popular online platforms such as TikTok.
Security and cyber experts, including a US Federal Communications Commission (USFCC) representative, will front a hearing in Canberra on Thursday.
Brendan Carr, the senior Republican commissioner on the USFCC, believes there should be a focus on the security risks posed by TikTok, which is owned by Chinese company ByteDance.
The Australian government has banned TikTok on government devices in line with the US.
TikTok denies it is harvesting sensitive data from users or is a national security risk.
Mr Carr maintains the app functions as a sophisticated surveillance tool.
The inquiry’s chair, Liberal senator James Paterson, said security concerns surrounding TikTok had to be taken seriously.
“On platforms like TikTok, foreign state disinformation is rife,” he told ABC TV on Thursday.
“They are permissive platforms. That is dangerous in the strategic environment we are going into.
“We don’t want authoritarian governments to be able to undermine our social cohesion and we need to step up our defences and harden our systems against these attacks.”
The USFCC has advocated for a total ban on TikTok in the US.
Senator Paterson said all options about how to handle the platform should be considered.
“It would be terrible if the US solved this problem for their users but Australian users weren’t included as part of that solution,” he said.
“I want to make sure the government is leaning forward to this, talking to our friends and allies around the world, because we are all grappling with the same problem as Western Liberal democracies.”
The national intelligence agency ASIO contends clandestine and deceptive acts of foreign interference can seriously damage Australia’s national interests if left unchecked.
ASIO says social media is a tool for foreign interference, including the dissemination of disinformation to harm or deceive Australians.
The Australian Electoral Commission has also identified threats to local elections and trust in democratic processes.
“Protecting democracy involves delivering safe, secure and trusted electoral events,” it said in a submission to the parliamentary inquiry.
“The AEC will continue to develop and strengthen both new and existing relationships with social media organisations which play an ever-increasing role in electoral information.”
This includes the electoral information related to the upcoming referendum on an Indigenous voice.
The committee, due to present its final report by August 1, will sit again on Friday to hear from human rights experts.
– AAP
