"Banning WeChat is not on the agenda" "TikTok will not be banned in Australia"

“Banning WeChat has not been considered; banning WeChat is not part of our plan at all (note: the original wording was 'That's not part of our plan at all').” This is what Australia's Acting Federal Minister for Immigration, Alan Tudge, said in an interview on 6 August 2020. Minister Tudge told reporters that he was well aware of the importance of WeChat.

“I know that more than 800,000 people in Australia use WeChat, and it is very important to many of them. The community I belong to has many Chinese Australians, and I myself, as well as my daughter, have WeChat accounts — she uses WeChat to communicate with her friends,” Minister Tudge said. “Banning WeChat is not part of our plan.”

Also on 6 August 2020, Australian Prime Minister Morrison ruled out the possibility of banning TikTok in Australia at the Aspen Security Forum.

News Corp Australia reported that Morrison said in an interview: “We have looked at this carefully, and there is no evidence that these apps are misusing personal data, at least from Australia's perspective. There is also currently no evidence that Australia's national security has been compromised by this app.” He added: “I think Australians should pay close attention to their own personal privacy, and not only in relation to this one app, TikTok.”