Recently, the notorious messaging app, WeChat, joined a long list of banned apps due to security issues. The Chinese app was banned, in the last few days, by the military forces in Australia; the authorities notified the military divisions not to use WeChat, for the app, reportedly, has a serious security dysfunction.
The defense department in the country declared that the WeChat features did not, unfortunately, stick to its guidelines; which as a result raise innumerable questions about the validity of WeChat security measures. Nevertheless, the authorities did not directly accuse the app of violating any security features, nor did they clearly state the reasons behind the prohibition of WeChat in military fields. Still, the defense department, straightforwardly, stated that any app or software that did not stay authentic to its stated security features and, more importantly, did not serve the defense purposes rightfully, shall not be sanctioned to be used on defense fields or levels.
Vital departments, such as defense department, have a package of unquestionable measures to protect its security info; such departments grant clearance to a few apps in order to be utilized by its workers. However, WeChat has been denied the clearance. Last year, the US military took such precautionary measure, banning the usage of China’s drones. Nonetheless, similar Chinese technological features have been brought under careful scrutiny, in an attempt to test its security invulnerability.
Additionally, US officials stated their concerns, back in February, about the Chinese involvement in the improvisation of 5G networks in Australia. Many reviews points out that the Australian ban of WeChat is probably more of a political strategy through which Australia declares its alliance with the US side. Yet, it’s justifiable that the Australian authorities might, as well, have serious concerns and suspicions that the WeChat app is being tracked down by the Chinese authorities, which may be the cause behind the ban.
Around the globe, most countries allow certain apps and forbid others. For instance, Facebook and Whatsapp are totally banned in China. Yet, the ban of WeChat doesn’t definitely mean that the technological bonds between Australia and China are going to be slowed down any time soon. WeChat is owned by the tycoon, Tencent, which has one billion active users every month; a huge portion of their users is undoubtedly Australian.
Interestingly, Tencent did not release any official comments on the incident; which leaves the field open for speculations. Indeed, other Chinese corporations might still dominate a great deal of the Australian market, regardless of any defense measures.
