Chinese Tech Firm Takes Over, Shuts Down World Leader’s Personal Social Media Account

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has had his personal account on Chinese-owned social messaging service WeChat taken over by a Chinese tech company and shut down Monday, Reuters reported.

Fuzhou 985 Technology, a China-based technology firm, managed to take control of Morrison’s WeChat account, which currently has 76,000 followers, several months ago, Reuters reported. Morrison reportedly used the account to communicate with Australians of Chinese origin.

Fuzhou rebranded the account as “Australian Chinese New Life” and redirected users visiting the account to Fuzhou’s website, according to a CNN translation.

A Fuzhou spokesman told Reuters the company bought Morrison’s account from a man living in mainland China. A spokesperson for Tencent, which owns WeChat, told CNN that Morrison’s account was originally registered to a Chinese individual and that there is a dispute over the account’s ownership.

Tencent and Fuzhou 985 Technology did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for further comment on the situation.

“The account in question was originally registered by a [Chinese... (Read more)

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