The Senate of the Australian Parliament held a hearing on foreign interference by social media software. Social media companies, including Meta (Facebook's parent company), TikTok (overseas version of Douyin) and Twitter, were invited to Canberra for public hearings.
James Patterson, Australia's shadow home minister and chairman of the commission, said Tencent's repeated refusal to attend hearings showed its contempt for Australian law.
Patterson stressed that all the other invited social media platforms agreed to attend the hearing, but Tencent refused to attend, which had a very bad impact on his reputation.
"We have submitted to the committee conclusive evidence of Tencent's actions, including its surveillance and censorship and tolerance of foreign interference," Patterson said. We have serious questions about them. ”
It is believed that in Australia, there are about one million WeChat users, about half of whom are Chinese.
Previously, Senator Patterson had sent a letter to the head of Tencent, warning that it would face serious consequences if the company continued to refuse to attend the hearing.
Yesterday, WeChat responded,...... As WeChat has no local presence or employees in Australia, it regrettably cannot attend the July 11 hearing. However, we will continue to provide responses to the Committee in writing and will continue to follow the Committee's recommendations and questions.
In addition, the committee, chaired by Senator Patterson, is expected to submit a report on its recommendations on August 1.