After examining the potential of social media interference by external foreign powers, an Australian Senate committee has advised to expand on current policies with 17 new guidelines and constraints for social networks, comprising of prohibiting WeChat on government devices.

With the documented increase of government interference from the Chinese government, like the recent report of China using malware to disrupt or slow American military deployments, Australian lawmakers primarily zeroed in on Chinese social media for its recommendations.  

Due to parent companies being headquartered in China and subject to its national security laws, in a statement, said that companies like TikTok and WeChat are “unique national security risks“.

“Platforms like TikTok and WeChat that are subject to the control of authoritarian regimes illustrate the broader cyber security risk to sensitive government information,” he said in a statement.

Released recommendations also included Australia aiding emerging nations in the Indo-Pacific region to deflect “malicious information operations” by dictatorial nations.

The Liberal party is leading the foreign interference committee, but the report’s recommendations are not binding, and the office of the prime minister and minister for home affairs has not responded with confirmation that the guidelines will be enforced.

The primary recommendations were aimed at Chinese social media platforms, but there were also 11 transparency recommendations which would entail all large social media platforms to tag state-affiliated media accounts and reveal when governments direct content moderation or activities against accounts of elected government representatives.Â