WeChat Is Being Sued Because Its Youth Mode App Violates Child Protection Rules

JAKARTA - Beijing prosecutors recently filed a civil public interest lawsuit against Tencent's subsidiary WeChat. This is because the Youth Mode in the messaging app is not working properly.

Youth Mode does not act in accordance with laws that protect minors. According to the announcement posted on JCRB.com, the website of China's top prosecutor. The lawsuit was filed against Shenzhen Tencent Computer Systems Co. Ltd. by the Beijing Haidian District People's Procuratorate.

"We will earnestly check and check the WeChat Youth Mode function, accept user suggestions humbly and sincerely respond to civil public interest litigation," the WeChat team said in a post on Weibo as quoted by Reuters, Monday 9 August.

However, the lawsuit does not reveal how Youth Mode WeChat does not comply with Chinese law. It is known, Youth Mode works to limit teenage users from accessing certain games and features such as finding closest friends and payments.

Chinese authorities have urged the country's internet and digital giants to keep minors out of danger online. State media this week also criticized the video game industry as well as online platforms that help promote celebrity culture.

Following criticism from Chinese state media, and after its shares fell more than 10 percent, Tencent also announced new restrictions on minors' access to its flagship video game, Honor of Kings.

Likewise, last April, the Chinese government was preparing sanctions in the form of fines for Tencent. This is part of China's actions against Tencent's actions that smelled of antitrust. But the fine that will be imposed on Tencent is not as big as Beijing's fine on Alibaba which reached a record 2.75 billion US dollars.