ONE of the federal government's most enthusiastic TikTok users, Bowman MP Andrew Laming, says he has no worries about the video-sharing app amid fears from some of his colleagues over its ties to China.
The app, which allows users to create videos up to one minute long, is popular with young users, with the majority of the 1.6 million Australians on the app under 25 years old.
Its parent company, Bytedance, is based in Beijing.
Andrew Hastie, Liberal MP and chair of the parliamentary committee on Intelligence and Security, told the ABC in February that he feared TikTok was sharing private information with the Chinese goverment.
"China's National Intelligence Law of 2017 means the Chinese government can compel businesses to share information with them," he said.
"I doubt if our information is secure when it's owned by Chinese companies."
Nationals MP George Christensen called for people to delete TikTok from their phones, while Prime Minister Scott Morrison said people should be wary of social media and the risk it presented.
"People have to be very conscious of what they're signing on to," Mr Morrison told 2GB earlier this month.
But TikTok Australia's general manager Lee Hunter said the company put users' safety and privacy first.
"TikTok would never share any user information with any foreign government, including the Chinese government," he said.
He said TikTok's data and storage practices were consistent with or stronger than other global technology companies.
Mr Laming - whose posts on the app include videos of himself doing chin-ups, squatting tubs of protein powder and rubbishing state Labor's Cleveland Redland Bay Road project - defended the app.
"I'm probably one of the heaviest users of the app in the federal government," he said.
"I don't have any concerns whatsoever about TikTok.
"Until (intelligence) services recommend that parliamentarians not use TikTok, we should stop using the app as a political football and rather should be used as intended - to be creative and have a laugh."
He said he had joined the app to engage first-time voters.
"If you can join a political party at 15 years of age, there is nothing wrong with using TikTok to reach them," he said.
"TikTok is one of the biggest social media apps right now and it is a great way to reach the younger demographic."
Emerald Moon, the Greens candidate for Bowman in the 2019 election, is also on the app and posts mostly political content.
TikTok asks users for access to their camera, microphone, contacts and location data.
According to the app's privacy policy, users' personal data may be stored on a server in Singapore or the US.
