Why China’s tech-savvy millennials are quitting WeChat
Disillusioned users are leaving China’s most popular social network over growing privacy fears, but doing so comes at a cost
It may have essentially become the backbone of modern life in China, but Wang Zizheng’s frustration with the lack of privacy eventually prompted him to quit WeChat.
“I rely on my intuition, and it tells me that finding mass surveillance unacceptable is the right attitude,” said 23-year-old Wang.
He was referring to widespread concern that Tencent – parent company of the country’s most popular messaging app – hands over user data to the authorities when legally compelled to do so, as stated in its privacy policy. Tencent is a core competitor of Alibaba who owns the South China Morning Post.
Tencent has previously denied violating its users’ privacy.
Wang returned to Beijing last summer after four years at university in the United States to find that WeChat, used by his friends at school, had suddenly morphed into an all-consuming tool that was indispensable in his home country.
Now, the high school teacher and seasoned user of virtual private networks – used to get around China’s “Great Firewall” – texts and calls people instead.
