A Look Into WeChat – Enabling an Analyst to Search and Monitor Content
A Look Into WeChat – Enabling an Analyst to Search and Monitor Content

Author(s): Alvin Lim
Subject(s): Media studies, Security and defense, Politics and communication, Social Informatics, ICT Information and Communications Technologies
Published by: NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence
Keywords: WeChat; Mobile application; Chinese chat app; Weixin; multifunctional app; public subscription accounts; news source; Censorship; influencing ability; keywords; in-app searches;
Summary/Abstract: WeChat, or Weixin (微信) in Mandarin, is a multi-function mobile application (app), first launched by China’s Tencent Holdings in 2011. A distinction between WeChat and Weixin must be drawn because they are two separate products, with WeChat intended for the international market while Weixin is aimed at the domestic Chinese market (Tencent, 2020). For this report, the names WeChat and Weixin are used to describe the internationally and domestically oriented products, respectively.

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