The account of Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on WeChat, China’s largest social media platform, has been hijacked.
Morrison’s account may in fact have been illegal in the first place, as only Chinese nationals are allowed WeChat accounts. To get around this, Morrison’s team paid a Chinese national to open the account for them. That businessman sold it to Huang Aipeng, the chief executive of Fuzhou 985 Information Technology. Aipeng told the ABC it was a business transaction only, and he had no idea who Scott Morrison is.
According to the UK’s Daily Mail, the account had 76,000 followers and has been renamed ‘Australian Chinese New Life’ to push propaganda on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party.
Morrison denounced the move as ‘censorship’, but many Australian’s weren’t convinced, pointing out the hypocrisy of the Prime Minister’s stance.
Hahaha – so looks like Scott Morrison broke Chinese laws by illegally setting up a WeChat account, which has now been high jacked! Only Chinese nationals are allowed to have a WeChat account, and Morrison has paid a Chinese national to set up an account for him! #Dickhead
— Bethany Williams (@BethanyinCBR) January 24, 2022
What a bunch of hypocrites
What a bunch of ????????
Denouncing Chinese foreign influence over WeChat BUT don’t stop US social media giants CENSORING Aussie political accounts
DISGUSTING
ANY foreign influence is WRONG whether by China or US corporate HQshttps://t.co/kty0pZpFsT
— Craig Kelly MP (@CraigKellyMP) January 25, 2022
