Australian politicians are targeting TikTok and WeChat! Australian expert: hysterical, portraying "security threats" on media | social | WeChat
Global Times special reporter Xin Bin and Global Times reporter Wang Dong revealed on the 3rd that a social media committee under the Australian Senate has released the latest report stating that foreign social media apps such as Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and WeChat should meet the minimum transparency requirements, otherwise they will be fined and may even be banned from operating in Australia. The committee claims that Chinese social media platforms TikTok and WeChat pose a "threat" to Australia's national security and recommends banning the installation of WeChat on government equipment.
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The report also suggests that foreign social media companies comply with strict new standards, protect user data, and require major social media platforms to establish branches in Australia to ensure timely regulation. In addition, the report suggests that the Australian government should follow the example of the United States, and split WeChat and its Chinese parent company, just as the United States separated TikTok from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance.
"We are conducting a detailed evaluation of the committee's report and recommendations. As we have communicated with the Senate Committee, WeChat is committed to protecting user privacy and providing users with a secure, reliable, and diverse platform for communicating with friends, family, and businesses." WeChat responded in a statement. Australian Home Secretary Claire O'Neill stated that the government will consider the recommendations of the report and respond later.
A Chinese international student in Australia told Global Times reporters that she and the Chinese people around her communicate through WeChat. If the Australian government bans WeChat, she will lose direct channels to connect with domestic society, lose the primary source of domestic news, and the suspension of WeChat payment will make it impossible for her to use RMB for payment.
ABC reported that some scholars who participated in the previous parliamentary hearing on WeChat opposed the Australian government's comprehensive ban on WeChat and suggested setting regulatory standards to regulate WeChat's operations in Australia. Professor Yu Haiqing from the Communication Department of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology stated that the previous suggestion to ban Tiktok on government devices has already been implemented, and some government departments in Australia have actually started to ban WeChat, but it has not been included in official documents.
Australian cybersecurity experts such as Greg Austin told the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong that the commission's investigation report had flaws and some of the content was "hysterical.". He believes that this investigation report is clearly aimed at China, and there is almost no direct evidence in the report to prove the threat of WeChat to national security.
The Guardian of the UK reported that WeChat recently stated that its user base in Australia has decreased by nearly 30% in the past three years. As of July 2023, this communication application, favored by the Australian Chinese community, has less than 500000 daily active users in Australia. The company told the Australian Social Media Commission in 2020 that its user base was 690000.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, WeChat is known as the "all-around application of China" in Australia. Yu Haiqing and Professor Sun Wanning from the University of Technology Sydney suggest that the Australian government and regulatory agencies should recognize and acknowledge that WeChat is a necessity rather than a choice for Chinese and overseas Chinese. The drawbacks of disabling WeChat outweigh the benefits, and it may also infringe on the right of citizens to communicate.
