China’s internet watchdog has ordered the social media platforms WeChat, Chat Bao, Matong, and Duoshan to “implement and improve safety mechanisms” and assess their own operations.
On Friday, the Cyberspace Administration of China disclosed on its website that it had met and spoken with executives of the companies behind the four social media apps, asking them to follow legal procedures when adding new functions or publishing new applications.
WeChat released its seventh version in December, featuring a new “time video” function, which allows users to upload a clip that can be viewed for 24 hours.
WeChat has more than 1 billion users. The superapp has banned links to Chat bao, Matong, and Duoshan on its platform following their launch on January 15th. Tencent alleged that the links were to “unsafe content” and that there were “user complaints”.