Australian Senate committee recommends government ban on TikTok be extended to WeChat

By ROD McGUIRK
Associated Press

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — An Australian Senate committee has recommended a ban on the Chinese-owned video-sharing app TikTok from federal government devices be extended to China’s most popular social media platform, WeChat.  The Committee on Foreign Interference through Social Media also recommended in a report late Tuesday that social media giants such as Facebook and Twitter should become more transparent or be fined. Committee chair James Paterson said on Wednesday the report’s recommendations would make Australia a more difficult target for the serious foreign interference risks that the nation faced.. Australia in April banned TikTok from government devices. The committee recommended the government consider extending that ban because WeChat posed similar risks.