Australian PM’s WeChat transferred to new owner, not hacked, Chinese operator Tencent says
- Scott Morrison’s account was renamed ‘Australian Chinese new life’, sparking concerns in Australia about interference and pro-China propaganda
- But Tencent finds no evidence of third-party intrusion and says the account was transferred normally
Australian lawmakers had raised concerns about potential Chinese interference and advocated boycotting WeChat after the account, formerly under the name “ScottMorrison2019”, was this month renamed “Australian Chinese new life” and found to have a new owner based in China.
“There is no evidence of any third-party intrusion,” it said. “Based on our information, this appears to be a dispute over account ownership.”
Followers of ScottMorrison2019 were notified on January 5 that the account, previously registered to an owner surnamed Ji, now belonged to Fuzhou 985 Information Technology Co Ltd. Filings available at Chinese companies database TianYanCha.com showed that an individual called Huang Aipeng was the owner.
With Morrison yet to comment about the changes to the account, it is not known whether Ji had acquired it on his behalf. It is an official subscription account, which can be registered only by a Chinese identity card holder.
Despite speculation in Australia that the renamed account was acquired to publish Chinese propaganda, no new posts have appeared since the January 5 notification.
Old posts about Morrison, dating back to February 2019, were this month still viewable, including photographs of the prime minister’s family and a welcome message. But a search of “ScottMorrison2019” showed no results.
Under WeChat’s “platform migration rules”, an account transfer allows a new owner to inherit the account’s followers and previously published content.
A person who works in marketing and has dealt with trading of WeChat accounts said that account transfers were handled by account owners themselves.
“It’s your personal property, unless you have posted content that violates the regulations and has been reported,” said the person, who refused to be identified for fear of the impact on their business.
The person added that trading of accounts was also common on other Chinese social media platforms, including Douyin (TikTok’s sister app in China) and Xiaohongshu, also known as Little Red Book.
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“There are many agencies handling these kinds of dealings, from large companies like Newrank to many small companies,” the person said.
WeChat is China’s biggest social media network and messaging app, with more than a billion users. Official WeChat accounts can be created by content generators including brands, media, government bodies and celebrities to broadcast to and interact with their followers. WeChat has over 20 million official accounts.
An account remained active in the name of Anthony Albanese, the leader of Australia’s opposition Labor Party, who will face Morrison, of the Liberal-National Coalition, in this year’s federal election.
Additional reporting by Iris Deng
