![]() ![]() Research has demonstrated that information flow on WeChat is a distinctly socially driven experience. This event prompted the Australia Broadcasting Corporation to set up a service account on WeChat to continue its content service to Mandarin speakers. In reality, the incident is due to administrative negligence in managing his account, which was registered and owned by a Chinese citizen who then sold it to a China-based technology services company. Commentators called for WeChat to be banned. When his account was “ hacked” in January 2022, Australian media framed it in terms of WeChat censorship and foreign interference in Australian politics. Such accounts are registered under the names of Chinese citizens or entities and subject to Weixin content moderation and terms of services.įormer Australian prime minister Scott Morrison’s WeChat account falls into this category. Private content providers that target the Mandarin-speaking population in Australia use subscription accounts. Service accounts are available through a paid verification process to business account holders, including international businesses. Subscription accounts are available free of charge to Weixin account holders with matching Chinese government identification. There are two types of WeChat Official Accounts. ![]() Official Accounts and Channels fall under Chinese content moderation policies and are governed by Chinese laws. WeChat algorithmic content management is oriented toward public spaces. These restrictions are stipulated in the WeChat Privacy Policy. ![]() Not only do WeChat users have to learn to self-censor or creatively dodge censorship when chatting to Weixin accounts, they have to comply with China’s internet governance policies when using WeChat Official Accounts and Channels, along with gaming and WeChat Pay. This causes a communication gap in group chats whereby WeChat users can see everything posted, but Weixin users may be barred from seeing some messages.Ĭhina’s political censorship regime has implicated WeChat users in the Weixin governance system. US-China dialogue going nowhere in South China Sea ![]() For example, a message sent from a WeChat account to another WeChat account based in Australia passes through Tencent’s server in Singapore and is not subject to political censorship. It allows users to decide who they want to be friends with in private and group chats and which friends they want to block from viewing their “Moments.” When it comes to public spaces, it allows a user to find and follow any Official Account or Channel without any request or approval from the account holders.įor semi-public spaces like chat groups and Moments, Tencent enacts server-based political censorship for WeChat and Weixin users. Content is generated and circulated in a bazaar of semi-closed and public social circles. WeChat and its Chinese version Weixin interoperate as a multifunctional messaging and social media application owned by Chinese conglomerate Tencent. This has created a need to adopt a more nuanced approach to the issue of censorship to consider its social, economic as well as cultural utility. Despite the concerns about censorship, individuals and organizations have used the platform as an effective marketing, communication and publicity tool. WeChat is a news-sharing and content-distribution platform where people can easily share opinions and information. ![]()
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