Don’t use WeChat for work, says the Communist Youth League

Tencent’s WeChat is often used as a work tool in China

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As of March 2018, WeChat has 1 billion monthly active users worldwide. (Picture: Reuters)

Xinmei Shen

Published: 9:41pm, 20 Feb 2019Updated: 8:53am, 20 Sep 2019

This article originally appeared on ABACUS

China loves WeChat. But now the Communist Youth League says it shouldn’t be used for work.

WeChat, the app that does everything

It’s not the first time we’ve heard something like that. Last year, for instance, Australia’s military put WeChat on a blacklist for security concerns. But there’s a bit of a difference between a foreign military and a state-run group like the Communist Youth League.

In an article titled “Be aware: Using WeChat for work is risky!” the Communist Youth League of China said that government agencies should be wary of using WeChat for work communication, because it may lead to leaks of classified information.

But their reasoning isn’t quite the same as the Australian military. They’re putting the blame not on WeChat itself -- but the people using it.

As an example, the Communist Youth League referred to an incident where a newsroom staffer wanted to send a classified government document to his editor on WeChat. But he accidentally tapped on the wrong group and sent it there instead -- so he was fired, and his editor suspended.

Another example involved a leak, where someone forwarded pictures of apparently sensitive documents from a work group into multiple other groups (and even Weibo).