WeChat blocks external links to multiple products including Zhihu, Kuaishou, and Pinduoduo

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The WeChat Security Center has issued a public notice on the handling of third-party illegal diversion links, restricting illegal external links of multiple products such as QQ Music, QQ Browser, Duoduo Live, Zhihu, Haokan Video, and Xiaohongshu. The service of opening illegal links directly in WeChat is no longer available. Users can click "Continue to visit" or access them by "copying the link and opening it in the browser".

Regarding the companies that were named, WeChat said that it had previously provided explanations, rectification reminders and guidance to the violating companies, and hoped that the relevant external link service providers would work with it to maintain a good user experience and give them sufficient time to rectify the situation.

In accordance with the "WeChat External Link Content Management Specifications", WeChat will stop providing services for the continued dissemination of link content on WeChat, stop providing services for directly opening and accessing entire domain names or IP addresses within WeChat, and stop providing services for sharing and interacting with related content in Moments, and other necessary measures to ensure a good user experience.

In addition, WeChat said that according to user complaints, we also found that some third-party APP service providers did not promptly and comprehensively correct the violations that damaged the user experience after learning of the aforementioned governance announcement, but instead used various malicious circumventions and confrontations through technical means, including but not limited to modifying the page design in accordance with the announcement requirements and WeChat restoring direct access services, and then changing the page back to the illegal form; deliberately setting some pages to randomly enter the illegal page after the user clicks on it from a technical perspective, etc. In response to such malicious technical confrontations and behaviors that damage the user experience, we deeply call on third-party APP service providers to stop them in a timely manner.