Beijing In China, “you practically live on WeChat,” Tesla founder Elon Musk recently enthused. For once, the dazzling US billionaire is more than right: Without WeChat, you are not digitally socially acceptable in China. But the People’s Republic in particular shows how dangerous the potential for abuse of power is with the so-called super apps.
Shortly before the congress of the Communist Party (CP), which rules with an iron fist, an extremely rare public protest against state and party leader Xi Jinping caused a stir. Huge white banners on a bridge in Beijing’s university district demanded the overthrow of the “dictator” in blood-red letters. There it read:
“We want food, not PCR tests.
We want reforms, not cultural revolutions.
We want freedom, not lockdowns.
We want elections, not a leader.
We want dignity, not lies.
We are citizens, not slaves.”
And:
Top jobs of the day
Find the best jobs now and
be notified by email.
“Students and workers strike! Down with dictator and traitor Xi Jinping”
Pictures of the action spread like wildfire on social media. The otherwise ubiquitous censors were briefly taken by surprise.
Then China’s security authorities struck offline and online. The suspected demonstrator was taken away, and the digital traces of counter-revolutionary slogans across the country hastily eliminated. Pictures were deleted, even sharing in private chats was stopped.
“Digital Death” after critical posts
But that’s not all: when opening the app, thousands of users received the message that their WeChat account was temporarily blocked, sometimes even completely. Those affected complained that the latter was tantamount to “digital death”.
Because WeChat, which means Weixin in Chinese, is the open sesame for everyday Chinese life. Anyone who loses access is more than severely restricted. Not only because both private and professional communication is almost exclusively via the app. WeChat messages are sent instead of emails. Many of the 1.3 billion users have neither mobile phone numbers nor email addresses of friends or work colleagues.
In addition, there is the ubiquitous payment function WeChat Pay. Anyone who wants to pay in cash in the country is often viewed with a mixture of pity and suspicion. Countless other mini-programs installed within the WeChat app are absolutely essential. This is currently most obvious with the health app, without which there is practically no entry anywhere: not in the supermarket, not in the subway, not even in your own block of flats.
In addition, you can use the mini-programs to book PCR tests, order in restaurants, deal with administrative matters or register for press conferences for the party congress.
Read more issues of our Asia Technonomics column here:
Whoever controls the app knows almost everything about its users. But instead of a digital open sesame, it can quickly become a very real cage. Thanks to artificial intelligence, social media giant and app operator Tencent can automatically censor images and text messages in real time. Data, even biometric information, is shared with security agencies.
Desperate users practice self-criticism
Desperate self-criticism addressed to Tencent customer service shows how much the blocked users suffer. He is deeply aware of his mistake, writes one publicly available and vows to only use WeChat in the future to “spread positive energy”.
Nevertheless, according to Elon Musk, WeChat is a blueprint for what he intends to do with Twitter after the takeover. In the West, the controversial entrepreneur’s super app plans should be viewed all the more critically. Because the concentration of data power opens up enormous potential for abuse – even in democracies.
In the Asia Techonomics column, Nicole Bastian, Sabine Gusbeth, Dana Heide, Martin Kölling and Mathias Peer take turns commenting on innovation and economic trends in the world’s most dynamic region.
More: President Xi’s claims to omnipotence are a disaster for Europe’s companies