July 18, 2023
Social media platform WeChat could find itself entangled in new federal laws aimed at tackling foreign interference.
A Senate committee looking at foreign interference through social media has been frustrated with a lack of information from WeChat despite repeated requests.
Committee chair and Liberal senator James Paterson said the platform had been asked to answer 53 questions in detail by Friday.
"WeChat and its parent company Tencent demonstrated contempt for the parliament of Australia through its refusal to appear before the committee last week, but has now committed to providing responsive information to the committee in writing," Senator Paterson said on Monday.
"I intend to hold them to that commitment."
The questions seek explanations on WeChat's links to the Chinese Communist Party, whether it censors content critical of the Chinese government and promotes CCP propaganda, and whether the application is used to surveil and target Australian users critical of the regime.
The committee is due to report on August 1 with its recommendations.
Senator Paterson said these could include legislation to ensure the integrity and transparency of all social media platforms operating in Australia and to protect the freedoms of Australians online.
"If WeChat fails to directly answer the committee's questions, and believes these recommendations are unfavourable to its interests, it will have no one to blame but itself," Senator Paterson said.
WeChat said in a nine-page submission to the inquiry in February its owner Tencent was a publicly listed company with a broad shareholder base.
"WeChat in Australia is designed for users outside of the PRC (People's Republic of China), operated by WeChat International and is not governed by PRC law."
However, it noted WeChat and users of its sister service Weixin - which is operated by a PRC entity and governed by PRC law - could interact with each other.
The company said WeChat's acceptable use policy "specifically and expressly prohibits promotional political content".
