Messaging and payments app WeChat’s refusal to front a parliamentary inquiry on foreign interference via social media has left it with the prospect of having to answer embarrassing questions about its censorship practices and ties to the Chinese Communist Party.

The company, which is owned by Chinese technology giant Tencent and has about 1 million users in Australia, told opposition spokesman for home affairs James Paterson it could not appear because it did not have any staff in Australia, even as its rivals offered up overseas-based executives via video link.