Posted on 12/22/2020 6:59:44 AM PST by jdsteel
(Paywall) China’s do-everything app, WeChat, has become one of the most powerful tools in Beijing’s arsenal for monitoring the public, censoring speech and punishing people who voice discontent with the government.
Authorities are increasingly using the app from Tencent Holdings Ltd. to justify arrests or issue threats, say dissidents, consumers and security researchers.
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Released in 2011, WeChat and its domestic sister app, Weixin, now have—Tencent says—more than 1.2 billion monthly active users in China, where its pervasiveness extends beyond any app used in the U.S. In addition to messaging, Chinese consumers use it to share photos, pay utility bills, hail taxis, get news, book doctors' appointments and use government services.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
Coming to a phone near you.
You cannot function in China without WeChat. It is used for more than communications, but payments and so much more.
BookFace and twitter have been around for years!
Becomes? Always has been.
Anybody surprised? The chicoms will soon have their man in the White House, and will take full advantage of that to impose their will on us.
WeChat Becomes a Powerful Surveillance Tool Everywhere in China like Google and twitter in the US
To Hell with Facebook and its copies. Their Chicom programs are not needed.
We have relatives and friends who claim they need FB to communicate with everybody/any body and to pay bills.
My wife, before she got of bed this morning, had texted her heirs as she texted our adult children and grand kids.
After breakfast, she will text our other relatives across the globe. With our status and how are you?
Next we will be texting with good friends from coast to coast. I have a texting list with a handful of relatives and friends still around to get texts.
Our standard bills are paid electronically by our bank via my orders and automatically each month. Variable bills are paid by credit card automatically. It takes about 2 minutes per month to pay those credit cards on their internet.
Our HMO dues are paid monthly by SS and my retirement plan. Rxes are ordered on line and paid on line. Again, copies go into this year’s tax files.
Monthly and yearly summaries go into a tax envelope, a this year envelope for any legal deductions.
Zero need for FB or whatever.
A checkbook last over a year.
...except now imagine Google and Twitter are payment gateways to pay for EVERYTHING and BEING PAID. Even credit cards and cash are frowned upon.
WeChat is evil. A tyrant means of controlling all access to buying or selling. Of course, being tied to your social credit score you won’t be allowed to travel either.
People talk about what the ‘mark of the beast’ might be yet 1.5 billion people already live under this tyranny.
Don’t worry, be happy ... google/Twitter/FB will morph into an American version of WeChat - you think all those mainland Chinese coders at FB are just acting as censors?
Scary. Had WeChat on my old phone because my chinese colleagues used it for “secure” communication. Thankfully I did not install on my new phone.
Repeat after me: Never trust chicoms!
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