Concern as Chinese-owned TikTok hires former Labor staffer Sabina Husic as lobbyist

Coalition Senator James Paterson has urged the Albanese Government to take stronger action against TikTok after the social media giant hired the Prime Minister’s former deputy chief of staff as a lobbyist.

TikTok on Monday confirmed Sabina Husic, who has worked as media director for former Victorian premier Daniel Andrews and as deputy chief-of-staff for Anthony Albanese when he was opposition leader, had joined the social media company’s government relations team.

Ms Husic is also the sister of Industry and Science Minister Ed Husic, who is responsible for overseeing the development of policy and regulation concerning technology including artificial intelligence.

A spokesperson for Mr Husic said, “The minister has made the necessary declarations and complying with all relevant obligations”.

The Federal Government has banned bureaucrats and politicians from having TikTok on government-issued devices due to the security risk from the breadth of data it can access but has not moved on any other apps.

Security experts have previously flagged concerns that TikTok has the capacity to manipulate politicial discourse as well as the social media app effectively allowing backdoor access to user data.

Senator Paterson, the shadow home affairs minister, said TikTok remained a national security threat and the social media platform needed to divest from Chinese-owned parent company ByteDance.

“No matter how much money TikTok spends hiring well-connected former Labor staffers, it remains a national security threat to our country,” said Senator Paterson, who is also the Coalition’s cybersecurity spokesman.

“The only thing that will change that is divestment from its China-based parent company ByteDance, as the United States is doing.

“The Albanese government shouldn’t let their arm be twisted by pricey lobbyists and instead stand up for our national interest and take action to make TikTok safer for Australians.”

In 2018 ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming said the company would deepen “cooperation with authoritative [official party] media, elevating distribution of authoritative media content, ensuring that authoritative [official party] media voices are broadcast to strength”.

Former ByteDance executive Yintao Yu alleged the company had what was known as a “superuser” or “god” credential that allowed a special committee of CCP members to view all the data collected by its apps, in filings in the San Francisco Superior Court. ByteDance dismissed the claims as “baseless”.

A TikTok spokesperson said Ms Husic had a “wealth of government experience” and would lead the social media company’s public policy work on data privacy and security.

“She [Husic] brings a wealth of government experience to the team, having previously worked as Director of Media and Director of Communications and Digital to former Victorian Premier, Daniel Andrews, as well as for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese during his time as Opposition Leader,” said the spokesperson.

“Her appointment and responsibilities will follow TikTok’s strict conflict of interest protocols.”

Ms Husic worked as media director for Mr Andrews and helped develop the former Victorian premier’s highly effective media strategy that harnessed social media to bypass traditional media outlets.

She also worked as deputy chief-of-staff to Mr Albanese when he was opposition leader before resigning and returning to work for Mr Andrews after becoming the target of an anonymous troll campaign. According to Ms Husic’s LinkedIn, she finished working for the Victorian government in December 2023.

Independent MP for Kooyong Monique Ryan has been pushing for politicians and senior staffers to be barred from working as lobbyists for three-years after they finished working for the government.

“This cooling off period would stop vested interests from hiring people and using their inside information and access to turn a profit,” she said.

“You should not have a better chance at shaping laws just because you can afford better influence, access and information.”

The Nightly contacted independent senator David Pocock, who has been outspoken against government lobbyists, for comment. Senator Pocock’s chief-of-staff is involved with Mr Husic.