GOVERNMENT SHOULD COME CLEAN ON CHINA INFLUENCE

 

The government needs to come clean and answer questions about TikTok's influence on the government's youth social media ban.

 

That's according to WA Senator Fatima Payman, who says Communications Minister Anika Wells should explain why the Chinese-owned social media company, which is banned from government devices, met with officials in the run-up to the government's U-turn on YouTube.

 

A report published yesterday by Sky News Online reporter Oscar Godsell says that a secret meeting took place between TikTok lobbyists and the minister's office in May.

 

The report says TikTok had been asking for YouTube to be included in the government's social media ban. Subsequently, the government backflipped to include YouTube.

 

"If this report is correct, it raises extremely important questions about the government's susceptibility to lobbyists and possibly the Chinese government," Senator Payman said.

 

"It's a bit of a coincidence that the Prime Minister initially backed YouTube's exemption from the ban, but then backflipped following this meeting and in the run-up to an extensive Prime Ministerial trip to China," she said.

 

"Is this all related? We don't know because the minister is not responding to questions from the media."

 

"So I want some answers."

 

"Are Chinese business interests now dictating government policy?"

 

"I have been against this from the beginning, and the government's approach has been all over the shop," Senator Payman said.

 

"This social media ban is fundamentally flawed."

 

"If we want to protect our kids online we need real solutions that are practical and evidence based, and not just designed for headlines."

 

Senator Payman is available for interviews today in Perth.