Platform Authenticity and Account Integrity

Deceptive or manipulative conduct undermines user trust, distorts authentic discourse, and undermines the safety and integrity of the platform. Prohibiting misinformation, impersonation, account manipulation, and deceptive synthetic media protects users from harm, ensures fair participation, ensures that each user’s identity and representation on the platform is genuine, protects users’ personal data, maintains the safety of the community and preserves the credibility of the platform.

WeChat prohibits any conduct designed to deceive, mislead, or manipulate other users or our platform systems. This includes debunked or unsubstantiated claims, impersonation, account manipulation, and synthetic media and manipulated content designed to deceive users.

We protect account integrity by upholding authentic identity requirements, security standards, while penalizing violations through account restrictions and enforcement. We prohibit behavior that compromise the authenticity and security of an account, which can lead to harassment, scams, defamation, and a breakdown of genuine community interactions. We also want to counter activities that could lead to privacy breaches, financial loss, and the spread of misinformation or malicious activity through compromised accounts. Enforcement against such behavior also deters attempts at mass account takeovers and misuse of the platform for malicious purposes.

Misleading information

We do not allow conduct designed to deceive, mislead, or manipulate other users or our platform systems. Examples include:

a) content containing false, fraudulent, or misleading information, including debunked or unsubstantiated claims, deceptive business schemes;

b) impersonation of individuals, organizations, or entities without authorization;or

c) creating or using inauthentic accounts, promotion of artificial traffic, or engaging in activities that artificially inflate engagement metrics.

Impersonation

We do not allow the following conduct:

a) creating and using a WeChat account with the same or similar name and profile picture as another WeChat account, with the intention to impersonate the second-mentioned account;

b) using another person’s real name, WeChat username, profile picture, brand, logo or other personal information to mislead others into believe you are that person; or

c) impersonating enterprises, friends and family, representatives of WeChat/Tencent, law enforcement agencies, teachers, supervisors, customer service representatives, government agencies etc., for fraudulent or other inappropriate purposes.

Unauthorized access

We do not allow the following conduct:

a) hacking into a WeChat user’s account and accessing his account and other information without authorization; or

b) hacking into a WeChat user’s account to impersonate that WeChat user for fraudulent or other inappropriate purposes, (including by using third-party software or systems not developed, authorized or approved by us, or by using credentials and login details that were stolen or leaked without the account owners’ permission).

Bots and cheating programs

We protect the technical integrity of WeChator other software using WeChat by prohibiting automated access and data collection (including bots, scripts, crawlers, and scraping), cloning or embedding WeChat to imitate its look or functions, and any activity that disrupts service reliability (such as traffic flooding or other interference). We also prohibit uploading or distributing malicious code, probing or bypassing security controls, and exploiting bugs or vulnerabilities. Specifically, the following behavior is prohibited, among other things:

a) accessing WeChat, collecting or processing any content made available through WeChat, or sending or redirecting any communications through WeChat, in each case through the use of any automated bots, software, engines, crawlers, scrapers, data mining tools or the like, or attempting to do any of the foregoing;

b) engaging in any "framing," "mirroring" or other techniques to simulate the appearance or function of WeChat;

c) interfering with, or attempting to interfere with, any user's or any other party's access to WeChat;

d) intentionally distributing viruses, worms, Trojan horses, corrupted files or other malicious code or items;

e) probing or testing the vulnerability of, or otherwise circumventing (or attempting to circumvent) any security features on, WeChat, our systems or the systems of other users;

f) decompiling, reverse compiling or reverse engineering WeChat, or seeking to do any of the foregoing;

g) using WeChat to gain unauthorized access to any system, account or data;

h) attempting to disrupt or interfere with WeChat including manipulating the legitimate operation of WeChat;

i) using cheats, exploits, automation software or any unauthorized third-party software designed to modify or interfere with WeChat;

j) disrupting or overburdening any computer or server used to offer or support WeChat, or other users’ use of WeChat; or

k) developing any plug-ins, external components, compatibles or interconnection elements or other technology that inter-operate with WeChat, except where we expressly permit you to do so via WeChat (and where this is the case, your use of WeChat may be subject to additional terms and conditions as notified by us to you).

Manipulated media, deepfakes or artificial intelligence generated content (AIGC)

We do not allow manipulated content designed to deceive users, including:

a) using deepfakes or synthetic media to create realistic but false representations of people saying or doing things they did not actually say or do, particularly in contexts involving public figures, non-consensual intimate imagery, or potential harm;or

b) manipulated content that has been edited beyond adjustments for clarity or quality in ways that could mislead users about real events or statements.

Spam

Spam refers to unsolicited and usually commercial messages sent over the internet (such as emails, text messages, or Internet postings), typically to a large number of users, for the purposes of advertising, phishing, spreading malware etc. Examples of behavior which constitute spam and are not allowed on the WeChat platform include:

a) sending unauthorized or unsolicited messages and spam when using the WeChat platform;

b) posting, sharing, or engaging with content or create accounts, either manually or automatically, at overly high frequencies which amounts or may amount to spam or harassment;

c) sharing auto-generated content excessively to the detriment of the user experience of others;

d) promising money, products, software, or gaming perks at no charge if users install software, download an app, or perform other tasks;

e) posting about surveys or giveaways that promote pyramid schemes;

f) including “Pay Per Click” referral links in posts or chats;

g) posting links to harmful software or phishing sites; and

h) sharing links to counterfeit stores in posts or chats.