Latest
Georgia is the latest state to ban TikTok from government-owned devices
Georgia has become at least the 11th state to ban TikTok from state government-owned devices. Governor Brian Kemp also blocked state agencies from using WeChat and Telegram.
China sues Tencent over WeChat's 'youth mode'
China has sued Tencent over WeChat's 'youth mode,' claiming the feature violates laws protecting children.
President Biden revokes Trump orders aimed at TikTok and WeChat
President Biden has revoked Trump executive orders meant to limit TikTok and WeChat, but has issued his own orders reviewing security for these apps.
TikTok ask the court to prevent a US ban from taking effect
TikTok is asking the court to step in and stop the Trump Administration's proposed ban from taking effect on Sunday.
Judge blocks US ban on WeChat app downloads
A judge has blocked the Commerce Department's attempt to ban WeChat downloads, citing First Amendment concerns.
What we know about Trump’s ‘ban’ on TikTok and WeChat
TikTok could still avert a shutdown. It’s much more complicated for WeChat.
TikTok and WeChat will be banned from US app stores on Sunday
TikTok and WeChat will be banned from US app stores starting on Sunday, September 20th, the US Department of Commerce has announced.
WeChat user alliance sues Trump administration over threatened ban
An alliance of WeChat users is suing the Trump administration over an executive order that could ban the chat app in the US.
Disney, Apple and more voice concerns over WeChat ban to White House
After President Donald Trump signed an executive order that would ban all US transactions with messaging app WeChat, some of the biggest names in American industry have begun to voice concerns about the shift directly to White House officials. According to a report published by the Wall Street Journal, representatives from “more than a dozen” major US companies, from Apple to Walmart to Disney to UPS, participated in a call this past Tuesday to highlight how they might be affected by action against taken against WeChat.
Trump executive order seeks to ban TikTok, WeChat 'transactions' in 45 days
Donald Trump issued two executive orders stating a ban on transactions with Tencent and ByteDance, the Chinese parent companies of WeChat and TikTok.
India has banned TikTok, WeChat and many other Chinese apps
The government cited citizen concerns over privacy and data security.
China arrested former Huawei staff for talking about Iran deal online
China arrested former Huawei staff for chatting about its Iran deal, showing just how zealously the country defends its tech giant.
China's WeChat is mimicking Snapchat Stories, too
Snap just can't catch a break from companies imitating its signature Stories feature in their apps. WeChat, the Chinese social app giant, has introduced a Time Capsule feature whose disappearing videos will seem uncannily familiar if you've used Snapchat... or Instagram, for that matter. You can't find them in a dedicated section, but the basic concept remains: you can record a short (15-second) clip that your friends and group chat participants can watch within 24 hours.
Chinese authorities claim they can read deleted WeChat messages
China is clearly fond of its far-reaching surveillance, but it's making some particularly boastful claims. An anti-corruption watchdog in Hefei claimed that a division in a nearby city managed to obtain a "series of deleted WeChat conversations" from one of its suspects. Supposedly, the scrapped chats let investigators question other participants and discipline them. Officials deleted the post on April 29th, but it had already sparked a minor panic on social networks -- did this mean the government could dig through your chat history at will?
China will cap QR-code payments to tackle fraud
China's central bank is issuing regulations over QR-code-based payments. Paying for things by scanning a barcode with the Alibaba or WeChat app is more common than using cash in the region and now the government wants to keep closer tabs on where the money is going. You might laugh at the idea, but QR codes aren't the punchline in the east that they are here. For instance, plenty of cabbies prefer taking QR payments because it means they don't have to handle small change.
WeChat accounts could double as state IDs in China
Some WeChat users in China will soon be able to use the chat app as a state-issued ID card. Financial Times reports that those living in Guangdong's capital city Guangzhou will be able to use facial recognition to link their identities to the app in the Nansha district this week. The feature will apparently roll out across the country in January.
China’s WeChat Pay comes to London
Walk around Camden Market this weekend and you'll notice that many of the stalls now support WeChat Pay. The mobile payment platform — an extension of Tencent's messaging app WeChat — is big in China but almost unheard of in the UK (at least outside of the Chinese community). So why bother? Well, the north London market is popular with Chinese tourists. SafeCharge, a company that helps businesses process payments, took notice and has updated its point-of-sale (POS) software accordingly. Now, stall owners can accept WeChat Pay with a tablet and compatible till.
Tencent is the latest tech company working on autonomous cars
Tencent is pushing beyond its WeChat messaging app and gaming, moving into the autonomous driving space. The Chinese conglomerate will tap its artificial intelligence and mapping initiatives to compete against the likes of Baidu, according to Bloomberg's sources. Back in 2015 Tencent announced it'd partner with electronics maker Foxconn (responsible for the iPhone and countless other gadgets in your house) to make smart vehicles. That happened in the same 24 hours that Baidu announced similar motives.
Clap for China's president anywhere, anytime with this app
If you wanted to applaud Chinese president Xi Jinping's recent speech but got stuck in traffic or were halfway around the world, well, there's an app for that now. Chinese internet titan Tencent has released a game that lets you tap the screen to clap during one of the eerily choreographed pauses amid a typical presidential address. Okay, so it's technically a "who can tap the most" game -- but it's still shrouded in performative adulation for a public official, which is only creepy if your government doesn't regularly force you to do it.
Technology is failing to create transparent supply chains
During the early days of globalization, it was relatively easy for corporations to either hide, or be ignorant of, human rights and environmental atrocities committed along their supply chain. Factories and producers were shifting manufacturing or sourcing of raw materials to an increasingly complex network of suppliers, but there was no incentive to look into how a supplier produced, for example, raw cotton or shoe soles. As long as the price was cheap and the quality was good, companies saw little need to ask further questions. That changed, though, in the early '90s, when nonprofits and journalists began to undercover vast labor and environmental issues connected to suppliers of large corporations, shining a spotlight on the dark side of the global consumer market. This led to the development of an array of supply chain technologies -- RFIDs, remote sensing, satellite monitoring, even blockchain-based tools. Many were marketed as solutions, aimed at making it easier to monitor and respond to human rights and environmental violations along supply chains. The results, however, have been mixed.
