China's technology giants have historically
prevented links and services by rivals from being shared on their platforms. On
Monday, however, regulators said they were ordering firms to rectify this as
the practice affected users' experience and damaged consumer rights.
The move is part of a broader regulatory
crackdown on the industry that has wiped billions of dollars off the market
value of some of China's largest companies.
WeChat said on Friday that it will implement
the changes in phases, starting with allowing users to access links in private,
one-to-one chats once they upgraded to the latest version of WeChat, although
it would continue to follow principles such as preventing excessive marketing.
The plan will be carried out based on legal
requirements and with the approval of regulatory authorities, it added.
"At the same time, WeChat will also
actively cooperate with other Internet platforms to implement this guidance and
explore the technical possibilities of using WeChat services on other
platforms, to achieve further interconnectivity."
Under the old practice, WeChat users were not
able to click directly through links to e-commerce marketplaces such as Taobao
and Tmall, which are operated by Alibaba Group.
Instead they would be asked to open the link
in a browser like Safari, which many had found problematic.
Tencent has also restricted users from sharing
content from ByteDance-owned short video app Douyin on WeChat and QQ, another
Tencent messaging app. In February, Douyin filed a complaint with a Beijing
court saying it constituted monopolistic behaviour. Tencent has called those
accusations baseless. © Reuters
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