According to a state-run tabloid published on Tuesday, Chinese internet platforms have not gone far enough in unblocking external links as instructed by authorities, and relevant government entities should take further action to interfere.
According to the Economic Information Daily, a publication owned by the Xinhua News Agency, this demonstrated that businesses could not be trusted to carry out “self-rectification,” and that government bodies should take additional steps, such as removing apps that do not follow the rules from the market.
Last month, regulators issued an order for companies to stop the practice, which they claimed had harmed users’ experiences and violated consumer rights, and gave platforms until Sept. 17 to comply. find out more
Tencent announced in September that the changes would be phased in, with users being able to access links in private, one-on-one chats after upgrading to the current version of WeChat. find out more
Alibaba-owned services, such as food delivery app Ele. have begun to accept WeChat Pay. However, Taobao and Tmall, Alibaba’s flagship retail apps, have yet to include WeChat Pay as a payment option.
According to the story, Tencent’s (0700. HK) WeChat users are still unable to view full links from Weibo (WB.O), and e-commerce platforms continue to ban phrases such as “Weixin,” WeChat’s Chinese name.
