Total TikTok ban should be next step: US commissioner

Legislation banning TikTok altogether should be the next next step in addressing security concerns about the social media app, a US commissioner has urged.

A federal parliamentary inquiry is examining the risks posed to Australian democracy by foreign interference through online platforms such as TikTok.

While the federal government has banned TikTok on government devices in line with other nations, experts have urged western governments to go even further.

Brendan Carr, a commissioner at the US Federal Communications Commission (USFCC), said a complete ban of the app was necessary.

"Some sort of rifle shot legislation that imposes a ban or a genuine divestiture is the way forward right now with a ban on TikTok for federal devices," he told the inquiry.

"The other (option) would be a genuine divestiture, elimination of all corporate ties back to China. A genuine effort like that is one that I'm open to as well."

Concerns have been raised about TikTok's Chinese parent company ByteDace and its ties to the Chinese government, as well as how data is used.

TikTok denies it is harvesting sensitive data from users or is a national security risk.

Mr Carr, a senior Republican on the USFCC, said there was a "deep entanglement" between employees for ByteDance and the Chinese Communist Party.

"The argument that somehow TikTok is going to stand up to the CCP is belied by their inability to do it at any time publicly," he said.

The USFCC has advocated for a total ban on TikTok in the US.

Government bans have been issued in 30 US states, while the state of Montana has been the first to ban the app altogether.

The inquiry also heard from Shanthi Kalathil, who served on the National Security Council under President Joe Biden.

She said it would be difficult to see how data could be properly protected on TikTok due to the app's ties, but also the concerns extended to other areas.

"It's hard for me to see how data can really be protected simply because of the relationships between ByteDance and the state," she said.

"The scale is really quite large, and I think we are mistaken on focusing just on one or two platforms."

The inquiry's chair, Liberal senator James Paterson, said security concerns surrounding TikTok had to be taken seriously.

"We are also very concerned about the way in which the platform could be used and might have been used in the past to pump disinformation into our political system," he told reporters.

He said while the Chinese government did not have a strong view on the referendum on the Indigenous voice "they may see it as an opportunity to drive a wedge in Australia to undermine our social cohesion and our national unity, and we can't allow them an opportunity to do so".

The committee, due to present its final report by August 1, will sit again on Friday to hear from human rights experts.