The WeChat account of one of Australia's most popular Chinese online communities has been banned by the Chinese Government despite the site's "strict self-censorship", as experts say China's crackdown on social media has raised concerns for media outlets in Australia.

Key points: OurSteps claims to have more than 300,000 followers

OurSteps claims to have more than 300,000 followers Account was closed despite a "zero tolerance" policy on politically sensitive topics

Account was closed despite a "zero tolerance" policy on politically sensitive topics Experts say China has been increasingly tightening internet regulations

OurSteps — an online community boasting 300,000 followers with a focus on Chinese residents in Australia — said they were shocked when they received the news their official WeChat account was permanently closed last week.

"We didn't receive a breach of rules notice before our official WeChat account closed," said Astina, the founder of the online network.

She said none of the posts sent out to their 55,000 WeChat subscribers had been blocked or censored, due to their strict self-censoring policies.

"We had been trying to avoid expression of political views and some potential sensitive topics," Astina said.

She said OurSteps has a zero-tolerance policy on any topic associated with the banned Falun Gong movement, personal attacks, racial discrimination, ethnic divisions, pornography, superstition, pyramid selling and all illegal actions.

But the account was closed regardless with no reason given, and many other foreign posts and accounts have similarly been blocked without a clear reason.

ABC contacted Tencent, the internet-based technology enterprise that manages WeChat, for information regarding the closure.

"WeChat is committed to providing an effective and secure platform for users to stay connected and share information and ideas," Tencent said in an official statement to ABC.

"We have content policies for individuals and organisations using our platform, and we regularly conduct reviews to ensure platform integrity.

"As part of those reviews, official accounts found to be spreading hate speech, misinformation, indecent content, or any other material prohibited on our platform, are blocked or suspended."

The statement said account owners can request information to "clarify or appeal a block" but repeated breaches could result in a permanent closure.

"To ensure the privacy of our users, we do not disclose specific details on the nature of the actions taken against individual official accounts."

Self-censorship no longer enough to beat irregular policies

Dr Haiqing Yu, an associate professor at RMIT University and an expert on China's digital media, pointed out that most Chinese language media outlets in Australia — including WeChat subscription accounts — were commercial entities and profit-driven and hence all practice self-censorship to various degrees for economic survival.

However, Dr Yu maintained that the story of Our Steps could be an isolated case and should not be generalised.

"[Chinese language media organisations in Australia] tend to strictly follow self-censorship as they fear their social media platform in China being banned. That was the trend for such a long time," she said.

"Many tend to be very cautious about reporting on politically sensitive issues … most of them only touch on lifestyle topics because it is the safest with Chinese censorship control," she said.

But regardless of such caution, Dr Yu said the Chinese Government had been increasingly tightening their regulations and policies, and pointed out that the implementation of such regulations and policies may be inconsistent and irregular.

"It seems to be inconsistent across the nation due to the nature of the secrecy [involved in the censorship process]."

A notification sent to OurSteps states, "Reason for closure: suspicion of breaking related regulations and laws."

On Saturday, an ABC post was blocked in China from the ABCAustralia WeChat account about a new Peppa Pig video.

The ABC's website and app were officially banned in China in September, but the WeChat account, whose posts include lifestyle and learning, has remained active.

Meanwhile, a senior employee from FreeOz — a similar online Chinese forum — told the ABC they have had similar experiences to OurSteps in the past with their WeChat account.

The account was reportedly frozen when they tried to publish an article that did not appear to infringe any censorship regulations. Once the article was deleted, the account became active again.

The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), the country's internet regulator, has been strictly imposing controls on WeChat since 2018, with more than 9,800 public news accounts closed or censored by the internet regulator.

OurSteps attempted to dispute the closure but received a notification stating their appeal was "unsuccessful" and the account would be "permanently closed" — the only reason given for closure was "suspicion of breaking related regulations and laws" without specifying how.

WeChat's administration told the ABC they also did not know the exact reason behind the closure, but that the order had come from "internet regulative authorities".

Cyberspace Administration of China could not be reached for comment.