Kirsty Needham

SYDNEY (Reuters] -Australia’s Prime Minster Scott Morrison was denied access to his WeChat social media accounts months ago by the Liberal Party, according to politicians on Monday. While these claims are based on censorship and a claim that the active account has been redirected by a Chinese controller, it promotes Chinese living in Australia.

In the midst of growing diplomatic tensions, Australia’s major parties used the social platform owned by Tencent Holdings Ltd (OTC:) Ltd to connect with Chinese voters in closely contested elections since 2019.

The government had hoped to make use of the Morrison account during Chinese New Year festivities, which began February 1. A person who knows the situation said that the prime minister’s Office has repeatedly tried unsuccessfully to gain access to WeChat, including on Jan. 10. This was the most recent request.

Tencent did not immediately reply to Reuters’ request for comment.

Outsourced agencies set up WeChat accounts on behalf of both the Liberals as well the Labor Party, which are the main opposition party. WeChat records and an official source confirm that Scott Morrison’s account was created in 2019 under the account operator name of a Chinese citizen from mainland China.

The original purpose of the poster was to promote major announcements regarding the economy and the COVID-19 Pandemic.

However, in January the account was renamed ‘Australia China New Life’ and promised to provide details about Australia. Reuters confirms this fact by viewing the account. Reuters has discovered that Fuzhou 985 is the technology company linked to the account. Reuters could not reach the company immediately to inquire about comment.

Liberal senator James Paterson was the Chair of Parliament’s Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security. He stated that this incident showed “censorship” and had been “foreign interference”.

On Monday, he stated on Australian radio that 1.2 million Australians who are of Chinese descent use the service. He also said that they can’t access any news or information from Prime Ministers anymore.

He said, “They can still access critiques of government and attacks on government by (Labor Opposition Leader)”

Fergus Ryan from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute was a senior analyst. He stated that the registration of the WeChat account for the Prime Minister under the identity of a Chinese citizen was always risky and unwise and thus a violation of WeChat’s rules.

He stated that accounts set up this way are easily shut down in a flash.

The Scott Morrison WeChat Account was temporarily disabled in December 2020 due to a dispute between Canberra, Beijing and an image of an Australian soldier fighting in Afghanistan.

WeChat sent a notice stating that the 2020 incident contained content that violated regulations. This included distorting historic events and confusing people.