WeChat has been given a deadline by the Australian government to respond to an inquiry after it refused to appear before a parliamentary committee. Senator James Paterson, Chair of the Senate Select Committee on Foreign Interference through Social Media, stated that WeChat and its parent company Tencent showed contempt for the Parliament of Australia by not attending the hearing. In a media release, Senator Paterson said that WeChat has committed to providing written information to the Committee and has until July 21, 2023, to respond. The Committee has sent WeChat 53 questions regarding its ties to the Chinese Communist Party, content censorship, promotion of propaganda, and surveillance of Australian users critical of the regime.
WeChat, a Chinese messaging and social media app developed by Tencent, has over 1.2 billion active users globally, with around 690,000 daily active users in Australia. Senator Paterson criticized WeChat for refusing to attend the inquiry, stating that it continues to show contempt for the Parliament of Australia. He added that if WeChat refuses to appear, the committee will draw inferences about its conduct. Seth Kaplan, a lecturer at Johns Hopkins University, expressed concerns about WeChat’s political interference in other countries. He compared WeChat to TikTok, stating that everything feared about TikTok is already occurring on WeChat, with narratives being managed and dissenting views suppressed. Kaplan warned about the CCP’s use of WeChat to directly interfere in political processes, citing an example from Toronto where a candidate’s votes shifted due to a political information campaign on the app. He emphasized the importance of democratic debates being among people within the country and not controlled by foreign governments.