WeChat user numbers plummet nearly 30% in Australia amid concerns of Chinese interference

Owner gives parliamentary inquiry no reason for fall over three years but says China's government could not conduct surveillance on app

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WeChat has said its user numbers in Australia have declined almost 30% in the past three years, amid questions being raised about foreign interference on the app.

Tencent-owned WeChat told a parliamentary committee examining foreign interference on social media that as of July 2023, the communications app favoured by Australia's Chinese diaspora community had fewer than 500,000 daily active users in Australia. The company told the committee in 2020 that its user base was 690,000.

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