July 17, 2023
Messaging and payments app WeChat’s refusal to front a parliamentary inquiry on foreign interference via social media has left it with the prospect of having to answer embarrassing questions about its censorship practices and ties to the Chinese Communist Party.
The company, which is owned by Chinese technology giant Tencent and has about 1 million users in Australia, told opposition spokesman for home affairs James Paterson it could not appear because it did not have any staff in Australia, even as its rivals offered up overseas-based executives via video link.
“WeChat does not have local operations or employees based in Australia, and as such regretfully we are unable to attend the hearing on 11 July,” Tencent head of corporate legal Elizabeth Byun said in a reply to a request from Senator Paterson to appear.
“We remain committed to providing responsive information to the committee in writing and remain open to hearing the committee’s views and questions.”
Overseas-based executives from LinkedIn and TikTok appeared before the parliamentary committee via video link. In fact, no social media firms sent executives in person. Meta and Twitter also streamed in.
Tencent did not respond to a request for comment.
Ms Byun told Senator Paterson in the letter that WeChat was committed to responding to the committee in writing. The senator has since fired off a new letter seeking to compel the Chinese-owned app to answer 51 uncomfortable questions about its data, its ownership and how the Chinese Communist Party leverages the platform.
These include whether WeChat censors content that raises awareness of human rights violations against Uyghur Muslims in China’s Xinjiang region and whether WeChat employees also hold roles with Chinese state media organisations.
Earlier this year, The Australian Financial Review revealed at least 14 Australian government departments had either blocked, banned or not approved WeChat on work-issued devices.
Research for an analysis of the WeChat app by Australian cybersecurity firm Internet 2.0 last year found Chinese government procurement records which showed at least 10 contracts between 2016 and 2019 from the CCP’s propaganda department to conduct influence or spread propaganda over Tencent platforms.
The value of the 10 contracts was just over ¥2.3 million ($500,000). They were awarded to subsidiaries owned by Tencent or companies in which Tencent chief executive and chairman Ma Huateng has a controlling stake.
“WeChat’s operations normalised Chinese state surveillance and censorship in Australia,” Internet 2.0 co-chief executive Robert Potter said. “It allows a monopoly over Chinese language media we would never grant to a single company.”
