Chinese tech titan Tencent said that there was no hacking evidence which would point out that there has been an intrusion made to Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison's account.
Before this statement arose, the Australian coalition came up with the decision to boycott the social media platform following the removal of the Prime Minister's account. Aside from being taken over, Morrison's account was also rebranded.
Australia Accuses WeChat of Taking Down PM's Account
Previously, Australia's Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security chairman James Paterson confirmed that WeChat took down Scott Morrison's account on Monday, Jan. 24, per CNN.
In addition, the followers of the account would be directed to a site tackling a new brand focused on "Australian Chinese New Life."
During the interview with 4BC, Paterson said that the Prime Minister's account had been hacked and added that it was indeed rebranded.
At the time of writing, Morrison's WeChat account has over 76,000 followers.
Earlier this month, a WeChat notice wrote that several "businesses and functions" from the PM's account have been transferred to the new brand. The Australian authorities traced that this brand came from the Fujian province in China.
In another interview with Sky News Australia, Paterson clarified that they first noticed some problems in Morrison's account in mid-2021. He added that they requested WeChat to grant them access. However, the Chinese social media platform did not reply to the government's appeal.
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Tencent Sees No Evidence of Hacking
In another report by The Guardian, Tencent explained that the rebranding of Morrison's account could be a case of an ownership dispute. It claimed that there was no evidence of any third-party intrusion on it.
The Chinese tech giant said that it will continue to investigate this issue. It added that it would remain dedicated to its task of improving its security for WeChat users.
"Based on our information, this appears to be a dispute over account ownership," Tencent stated.
In response to this issue, Hong Kong-born Australian LP member Gladys Liu agreed with the government's move to boycott WeChat because of its interference in the political spectrum.
Simon Birmingham, the country's finance minister commented that Australians should not trust WeChat as a communications platform. He added that it deserved condemnation after the issue.
Meanwhile, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg urged WeChat to restore access to Morrison's removed account.
The Australian Parliament Group is considering discussing more about this incident in line with national security. Labor leader Anthony Albanese said that this should be treated with seriousness so he is looking forward to talking with the PM about this issue this week.
China on Tencent Suspension
In November 2021, Tech Times reported that the Chinese government slapped a hammer ban on Tencent as a reminder that app developers should abide by the country's data regulation practices and policies.
At that time, the tech site wrote that the gaming giant first needed the approval of the Chinese regulators before returning to its operations.
Following this decision, Tencent announced that it launched some improvements with regard to user app protection. These features are available through its official website.
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This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Joseph Henry
