Australian Senate Recommends Restrictions On Social Media, Potential WeChat Ban On Government Devices

JAKARTA - A Senate committee investigating how foreign powers are using social media to disrupt Australia has recommended a number of rules and restrictions for social media platforms, including the potential ban on message services from China, WeChat, on government officials.

The report, which was released on Tuesday, August 1, contains 17 recommendations. This includes new transparency rules that can be enforced with fines, expansion of the ban on the use of TikTok on government devices to contractors, and investigations into the potential ban on WeChat on government devices.

Companies like TikTok and WeChat are considered to have "unique national security risks" as their parent companies, ByteDance and Tencent, are based in China and subject to its national security laws.

"Platforms like TikTok and WeChat subject to authoritarian regime control illustrate the broader cybersecurity risks to government classified information," Senators Committee Speaker James PASSerson said in a statement.

The committee also recommended that Australia help developing countries in the Indo-Pacific region to detain "evil information operations" from authoritarian countries.

Led by Liberal Party Senator James PASSerson, the five-person committee investigating foreign interference through social media includes two members of the ruling party Labor, although the report's recommendations are unbinding.

The Office of the Prime Minister and Minister of Home Affairs Australia did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

While many recommendations are targeting social media platforms from China, a set of transparency rules will require all major social media platforms to label state-affiliated media accounts, and reveal when the government directs content moderation and action against selected official accounts.