Australian PM Scott Morrison's WeChat account hacked, legislator accuses China

The social media account of Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on the Chinese-owned platform WeChat was hacked and renamed. Indicating the situation, a legislator on Monday accused Chinese authorities of meddling in the nation's politics. According to Sydney's The Daily Telegraph newspaper, earlier this month, PM Morrison's 76,000 WeChat followers witnessed certain modifications in his account. They saw his profile name had been changed to "Australian Chinese new life" and his account picture had been deleted. As per the report, the alterations were done without the knowledge of the administration. 

Following this discrepancy, James Paterson, the head of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Intelligence and Security, stated that the WeChat platform has not responded to an Australian government request to reinstate the prime minister's account. With Australia's polls looming in May, Paterson blamed China's Communist Party for censoring him, AP reported. Paterson who is a member of Morrison's conservative Liberal Party has urged to boycott the platform, which is controlled by Chinese tech giant Tencent. 

'No politician should be on WeChat and legitimizing their censorship' says Paterson

While talking to Sydney Radio on 2GB, Paterson said, “What the Chinese government has done by shutting down an Australian account is foreign interference of Australian democracy in an election year,” The Star reported. He added, “No politician should be on WeChat and legitimizing their censorship.” Further, Paterson has expressed worry that 1.2 million Chinese Australians who use the site would unable to see updates and information from the prime minister, but could still see opposition leader Anthony Albanese's critiques of the administration.  

In addition to this, Dave Sharma, a member of the Liberal Party and a former diplomat, believes the involvement was probably sanctioned by the Chinese authorities. Morrison, according to Sharma, utilised WeChat to communicate with Australia's Chinese community. However, the Chinese Communist Party ultimately controls social media. Sharma told Sky News television, “More likely than not it was state-sanctioned and it shows the attitude towards free speech and freedom of expression that comes out of Beijing.” 

Since taking over as Prime Minister in 2018, Scott Morrison has had a tense relationship with China. The Chinese have criticised a new collaboration established in September between Australia, the United Kingdom, as well as the United States, whereby Australia would get nuclear-powered submarines. 

(Image: AP/ Unsplash)