WeChat Temporarily Suspends New User Registration for Security Compliance

Tencent’s WeChat has quickly suspended registration of latest customers in mainland China because it undergoes a technical improve “to align with relevant laws and regulations,” China’s dominant immediate messaging platform stated on Tuesday.

“We are currently upgrading our security technology to align with all relevant laws and regulations,” the corporate stated in a press release to Reuters.

“During this time, registration of new Weixin personal and official accounts has been temporarily suspended. Registration services will be restored after the upgrade is complete, which is expected in early August,” the corporate stated.

Weixin is the Chinese identify for WeChat.

China is within the technique of tightening its coverage in direction of privateness and information safety. It is readying a Personal Information Protection Law, which requires tech platforms to impose stricter measures to make sure safe storage of person information.

Tencent was additionally requested by China’s market regulator on July 24 to relinquish its unique music label rights, after discovering that the agency had violated antitrust legal guidelines.

The ruling is the newest in a crackdown on China’s tech sector after years of runaway development, as Beijing frets over the businesses’ rising affect in addition to the safety of troves of delicate shopper information.

Tencent acquired a majority stake in rival China Music Group in 2016, successfully controlling greater than 80 p.c of solely held music streaming rights within the home market, the State Administration for Market Regulation stated in a press release.

This gave the agency’s music arm the flexibility to induce labels to “reach more exclusive copyright agreements, or require better trading conditions compared to (Tencent’s) competitors,” the regulator stated, calling the case an “illegal concentration of business operators.”

Tencent’s music arm was additionally fined CNY 500,000 ($77,144 or roughly Rs. 57,41,600), SAMR stated.

© Thomson Reuters 2021