China has been accused of disconnecting Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s WeChat account
This is according to the chairman of county’s parliamentary intelligence committee, Victoria Senator James Paterson on Monday.
Victoria serves as chair of Australia’s Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security and claimed that Morrison has been unable to access his account on the Chinese social network for several months.
“My view is, given that WeChat is such a closely controlled company by the Chinese Communist Party, that this amounts to foreign interference in our democracy, and in an election year no less,” Paterson said during an interview with 4BC.
“It’s particularly concerning that they’ve sought to punish the prime minister, and prevent him from posting on it, but they’ve continued to allow [Australian opposition leader] Anthony Albanese to post on it, and post his attacks on the government on it, which we now can’t respond to.”
Paterson called on all Australian politicians to boycott WeChat in response, claiming “no one should be legitimizing their censorship and their control over our public debate.”
Politicians in Australia reportedly use the Chinese social network to reach Chinese Australians, who represent a significant minority of the Australian population.
