The B.C. government has launched an account on the Chinese-language social media app Weibo, six months after banning TikTok on government devices
Anne Kang, the NDP minister in charge of B.C.’s economic immigration program, announced Aug. 16 that the government had opened an account on Weibo, a Chinese-language social media service sometimes compared to Twitter .
“Weibo is not being downloaded to or used from any government assets such as computers or cell phones,” said a statement from Kang’s Ministry of Municipal Affairs. “A third-party contractor is responsible for day-to-day account administration – at arm’s length from government.” Vancouver marketing agency Catalyst Agents, a Weibo, WeChat and TikTok specialist, is the contractor, but the Ministry refused to disclose the maximum value of the contract.
A leader of the Vancouver Society in Support of Democratic Movement, which advocates for democracy and human rights in China, called it disturbing. A professor at McGill University’s School of Information Studies said it is understandable why the B.C. government is on Weibo and WeChat, but there are potential negative consequences.
More than two years before China’s foreign interference in Canadian elections and intimidation of politicians became one of the biggest national news stories, the Liberal Public Safety minister at the time told a House of Commons committee that Canadians should be wary of using China-based social media apps.
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