Tag Archives: WeChat

China Warns Officials to Stay on Message When Chatting Online

Man using a laptop at a Beijing office of Sina Weibo

Man using a laptop at a Beijing office of Sina Weibo, widely known as China’s version of Twitter, an early victim of President Xi Jinping’s ongoing campaign tighten online control, in April 2014 photo. AFP

The ruling Chinese Communist Party has published a warning to its officials using the popular chat app WeChat, banning them from making “off message” comments on social media. Continue reading

China Bans User-Made, ‘Unlicensed’ Video, Audio From Social Media

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China’s State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television holds political study meeting, Nov. 21, 2016. Public Domain.

China’s powerful media regulator has banned social media platforms like WeChat, and the Twitter-like Weibo services run by Sina and Tencent, from disseminating user-generated audio and video, in a move that appears to be aimed at stifling citizen reporting in a country where all news is controlled by the ruling Chinese Communist Party. Continue reading

China’s Ruling Party Continues to Tighten Grip on Internet Content

Screenshots of China's WeChat app and logo on a desktop computer and smartphone

Screenshots of China’s WeChat app and logo on a desktop computer and smartphone, June 1, 2016. RFA

The ruling Chinese Communist Party is continuing to tighten controls over what the country’s 700 million internet users see and post online, issuing reporting forms to its officials who are expected to list content that could be seen as problematic by censors. Continue reading

Panama Papers: China detains lawyer after he shares details of leaders online

By Tom Phillips

Friday 15 April 2016 07.39 BST

Ge Yongxi, a known defender of activists and church leaders, taken into custody after posting messages on WeChat account

Ge Yongxi

Ge Yongxi was taken from his home by five plain-clothes police officers, according to his lawyer and activists. Photograph: Facebook

A well-known Chinese civil rights lawyer has been taken into police custody after sharing information about the Panama Papers on social media, human rights groups have said. Continue reading

Mo Zhixu: The Chinese Internet is Entering into a Period of Increasing Government Control

2014-08-15

Recently, the National Office of Online Information promulgated ten regulations concerning WeChat (“WeChat 10 Regulations”). There have already been many discussions about it. Among them, Continue reading

Blurred Lines: The Ambiguity of Censorship on China’s Top Messaging App

7:24 pm HKT Aug 15, 2014 CULTURE

By Jason Q. Ng

BN-BP416_0220ch_G_20140220004030
Reuters

Chinese authorities recently Continue reading

An Online Shift in China Muffles an Open Forum

By IAN JOHNSON JULY 4, 2014

In recent months, Weibo has been eclipsed by WeChat, which allows instant messaging within self-selected circles of followers. Credit Sim Chi Yin for The New York Times

BEIJING — For the past few years, social media in China Continue reading

China Announces New Clampdown on Messaging Apps

2014-05-28 
A device displays the logo of instant messaging platform WeChat, March 12, 2014.
AFP

China has launched a month-long crackdown on hugely popular instant messaging apps in a bid to purge them of “illegal and harmful information” and to fend off “hostile forces,” official media reported on Wednesday. Continue reading