“We use WeChat in China for everything; it is so convenient; we can send text messages, photos, and have video chat.” This was what my friend told me when I asked for his email address. “Email is outdated,” said my friend proudly over the phone on the other side of the world.
Email is obsolete?! This is a completely new concept to me, who live in the United States, a country that represents the most advanced information technology in the world. I don’t believe that email is an archaic communication method, but whether using WeChat represents any actual convenience is questionable and highly suspicious. The messaging app WeChat has a track record of conforming with government censorship and surveillance. When all Chinese use one communication platform, the system is simplified and the government easily monitors and controls everybody’s every online activity.
The new year, 2019 has just started, but warnings against using WeChat have been reported repeatedly. The University of California, Davis (UC Davis) has circulated a China travel warning to some of its students, advising them not to use messaging apps like WhatsApp or WeChat when visiting China. The guidance issued by the university specifically points out that during their stay in China, students and faculty members should not make “unfavorable political statements or postings on social media.”
The easy tracking via WeChat has led to many vicious acts of the Chinese government against the users of free Internet. In a report on privacy protections in messaging apps, Amnesty International has accused WeChat of reading users’ messages and storing data. While the Chinese authorities have denied reading private messages, under a new Chinese cyber security law, technology companies must store logs and relevant data for at least six months and provide them to the government upon request. Wang from Human Rights Watch said, “Numerous instances have shown that Chinese authorities have access to private chats on WeChat.” U.S. professors, researchers and some students who visited China have complained about being watched and followed by police, or even dragged in for questioning about their research and whom they were speaking to in China.
It should be noted that in the past, the Chinese government has persecuted people, both Chinese and foreigners, because they made public statements criticizing the government, but now, even private comments have been used by the Chinese government against academics and students. As my American friend said, China is more and more like a prison – no Google, no Facebook, no Twitter, no Instagram. Now, email is fading away from the life of the Chinese people.
What is left now is a control app – WeChat.
As George Orwell remarked, “Who controls the past controls the future…” However, this famous quote cannot be found on the Internet in China, because George Orwell is censored and banned. Ironically, the only ones who can read this quote are the Chinese dictators.