In the 2020 incident, a note appeared from WeChat saying the content violated regulations, including distorting historical events and confusing the public. Member for Chisholm, Gladys Liu, pledged to stop using her WeChat account after Scott Morrison’s profile was taken over. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has lost control of his account on the Chinese-owned social media platform WeChat and a lawmaker on Monday accused China's leaders of political. In December 2020 the Scott Morrison WeChat account was temporarily blocked amid a political dispute between Canberra and Beijing over an image of an Australian soldier in Afghanistan. "Any account set up in this way can be shut down at a moment's notice," he said. Fergus Ryan, senior analyst with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said having the Prime Minister's WeChat account registered under the name of a Chinese citizen was "always risky and ill-advised", and appeared to be a breach of WeChat rules. Australia PM Scott Morrison loses control of WeChat Chinese account as election looms Australian politicians said Morrison's office lost access to the account on the platform. "Yet they can still gain access to critiques of the government, attacks on the government by the (Labor) opposition leader," he added. "There's 1.2 million Australians of Chinese descent who overwhelmingly use this service and now can no longer access news and information from their Prime Minister," he said on Australian radio on Monday. Liberal Senator James Paterson, Chair of Parliament's Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, told media the incident was an example of "censorship" and "foreign interference". The account registration is now linked to a technology company in Fujian province, Reuters found. Tencent didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.īut in January, the account was rebranded 'Australia China New Life', and said it would provide information about life in Australia, Reuters confirmed by viewing the account. The prime minister' s office has made multiple fruitless requests to WeChat to regain access to the account, most recently on January 10, said a person with knowledge of the matter, who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter. With a national election due by May, the government would have aimed to use the Morrison account to promote its policies during the Chinese New Year celebrations starting February 1. Amid growing diplomatic tensions with China, Australia's two major political parties have used the social media platform, owned by Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings Ltd, to communicate with Australian voters of Chinese ethnicity in tightly fought electorates since 2019. In the 2020 incident, a note appeared from WeChat saying the content violated regulations, including distorting historical events and confusing the public.ĭon’t miss out on ET Prime stories! Get your daily dose of business updates on WhatsApp.SYDNEY: Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison's Liberal Party lost access to his official WeChat social media account months ago, politicians said on Monday, issuing claims of censorship, while the still-active account being run by an unidentified controller now promotes Chinese life in Australia. "Yet they can still gain access to critiques of the government, attacks on the government by the (Labor) Opposition Leader," he added.įergus Ryan, senior analyst with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said having the Prime Minister's WeChat account registered under the name of a Chinese citizen was "always risky and ill-advised", and appeared to be a breach of WeChat rules. "There's 1.2 million Australians of Chinese descent who overwhelmingly use this service and now can no longer access news and information from their Prime Minister," he said on Australian radio on Monday. As Australia prepares for its election, campaigning is heating up on China’s biggest social messaging platform. SYDNEY: Australia s Prime Minister Scott Morrison s Liberal Party lost access to his official WeChat social media account months ago, politicians said on Monday, issuing claims of censorship, while the still-active account being run by an unidentified controller now promotes Chinese life in Australia.
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