Minor Safety

A minor is a person under the age of majority or adulthood under the applicable laws of the jurisdiction in which he or she is located. WeChat is deeply committed to protecting the safety of minors, who are especially vulnerable online, and we call upon all users to contribute to our efforts in protecting them. Exploitation or endangerment of minors can cause irreversible psychological, physical, and social harm. By removing harmful content (such as those relating to grooming, sexualization, and child sexual abuse material (“CSAM”)) and preventing predatory contact, we safeguard the well-being of minors and maintain a safer online environment for all users.

Child sexual abuse material

We do not allow content that threatens, depicts, praises, supports, provides instructions for, makes statements of intent, admits to participation in or shares links of the sexual exploitation of children, including:

a) child nudity;

b) sexual activities involving children;

c) children with sexual elements, such as the presence of sex toys, sexualized costumes, stripping or open-mouth kissing;

d) content of children in a sexual fetish context;

e) content that supports or encourages participation in pedophilia;

f) content that identifies or mocks alleged victims ofchild sexual exploitation;

g) content that solicits child sexual abuse material, nude imagery of children, sexualized imagery of children or real-world sexual encounters with children;

h) content that constitutes inappropriate interactions with children, such as engaging in sexual conversations with children, purposefully exposing children to sexually explicit language or sexual material or requesting sexual material from children;

i) content that attempts to exploit children by extracting or obtaining money, sexual or non-sexual favors or private sexual content from children, by coercion or threatening to expose their private sexual content or other private information;

j) content that attempts to exploit children by sharing, threatening or stating an intent to share private sexual conversations or sexual images with children; and

k) content that depicts child sexual abuse in forms such as computer-generated imagery (CGI), cartoons, drawings, animations, manga, and other non-photographic imagery of child sexual abuse.

If you stumble across child sexual abuse material on the WeChat platform, or suspect that a child may have had imagery of their sexual abuse shared on the platform, we encourage you to use the following resources to seek further assistance:

a) the Internet Watch Foundation’s international reporting portals; and

b) find a local reporting hotline to report such child pornography or any other sexual abuse material.

Child grooming

We do not allow the following behavior on the WeChat platform:

a) an adult initiating unwanted or sexually suggestive contact with a minor;

b) an adult attempting to build an inappropriate relationship with a minor through praise, gifts, attention, or sympathy with the intent to exploit;

c) content that encourages minors to keep secrets from their parents or guardians, especially regarding interactions with adults; or

d) attempts to solicit private information (address, school name, phone number) from a minor.

Compensated sexual services of minors

We do not allow content that offers, seeks, or facilitates the commercial sexual exploitation of a minor (e.g. child prostitution, trafficking).

Child abuse (non-sexual)

We do not allow content promoting, encouraging, soliciting or depicting child abuse. Examples include:

a) content that depicts, describes, or glorifies physical violence, emotional abuse, or severe neglect of a minor; or

b) behavior that promotes or facilitates the exploitation of a minor for labor, services, or begging.

Public disclosure of a minor’s information

We do not allow content that reveals a minor’s personal information, including names, addresses (both online and offline), personal ID numbers, phone numbers, other than in accordance with applicable laws.

Photos and videos of minors, if reported by the minor or a parent or legal guardian, may be removed at our discretion.

Cyberbullying concerning a minor

We do not allow content that targets minors with:

a) calls for death, or to contract or develop a medical condition;

b) claims about sexual activity or sexually transmitted diseases;

c) claims about romantic involvement, sexual orientation or gender identity;

d) negative physical descriptions;

e) claims about religious identity or blasphemy;

f) expressions of contempt or disgust;

g) allegations about criminal or illegal behavior; or

h) videos of physical bullying shared in a non-condemning context.