On Wednesday, Tencent’s WeChat, the ubiquitous super app in China, made a post on its official account to address the platform’s blocking of external links to Alibaba’s work collaboration app DingTalk and Tencent’s own social network Pengyou.
WeChat claimed that it has banned links to third-party applications because there are risks that personal information may be leaked if those links are shared and clicked on. Posts that have been blocked include QR codes from Pengyou that redirect users to potentially suspicious download pages, as well as forms on DingTalk where users are prompted to input their personal details.
WeChat offered justification by saying that links like these may exploit the platform’s connectivity between users, and third-party apps may be able to track how links propagate from one individual to others.
Since last Friday, links to pages in ByteDance’s work collaboration app Feishu have been barred. WeChat has yet to provide an official response regarding the matter.
This article is part of KrASIA’s “China Brief” section, where KrASIA’s reporters will provide quick daily updates about the tech ecosystem in China.