The communication app designed in Mainland China has two versions. Within the Chinese domestic market, the simplified app is known as ‘Weixin’ (微信), or ‘micro-message’, whereas the more technologically complex international version (which has spread throughout the world) is known as ‘WeChat’. This system of ‘communication through small text’ is designed primarily for use on mobile telephones, with a limited capability on desk-top computers (although this may only apply to the international version which allows ‘chatting’ on-screen, but not ‘moment’ updating). Wherever China has exported WeChat, her designers and lawyers have been very careful to maintain privacy and safety of the users, whilst the app fully conforms to regional laws. This means that the Chinese business that administer WeChat are very careful to safeguard the legal sovereignty of each country outside of China they operate within. This means that every user benefits from the legal safeguards of the PRC by default, unless the local or regional laws contradict or improve on these laws. At no time does PRC law supersede (by default) the local law of the sovereign country the WeChat app is operating within. Of course, China’s influence in this area goes no further than the function of the communication app she administers. China, unlike the US, does not link the spread of its social media platforms with the granting or withholding of business contracts or the issue of threats of war (or application of sanctions) through UN or market manipulation. Whereas Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, etc, actively pursue racist anti-China and anti-Socialist policies, WeChat does not pursue an openly anti-US stance contrived and controlled by the Chinese government. In this regard, whereas US social media is a continuation of US foreign policy by other means, WeChat is a truly ‘neutral’ and ‘impartial’ social media platform.
SANGHA KOMMUNE (SSR) 