Tencent will inspect WeChat’s ‘youth mode’ immediately after prosecutors initiate lawsuit

BEIJING, Aug 6 (Reuters) – Tencent (0700.HK) stated it would investigate the functions of its preferred social messaging application WeChat’s “youth method”, just after Beijing prosecutors initiated a civil general public-desire lawsuit from a subsidiary of the company on Friday.

Prosecutors had explained the “youth manner” on WeChat does not comply with legal guidelines defending minors.

“We will earnestly inspect and test the capabilities of WeChat Youth Mode, take consumer ideas humbly and sincerely answer to civil community interest litigation,” the organization WeChat team stated in a submit on Weibo.

The lawsuit was initiated by Beijing’s Haidian District People’s Procuratorate in opposition to Shenzhen Tencent Laptop or computer Devices Co Ltd, according to a filing posted on JCRB.com, a web site operate by China’s leading prosecutor.

The doc did not say how WeChat’s “youth manner” broke Chinese legislation. It claimed it could assist other businesses and organisations that meant to provide lawsuits against the Tencent device and asked them to get in touch with the prosecutor’s office within 30 times.

Tencent did not quickly answer to a ask for for remark.

WeChat’s “youth method”, when turned on, boundaries younger users’ entry to some online games and capabilities, these types of as payments or getting nearby friends.

Chinese authorities have known as for minors to be superior protected from online risks, a sentiment echoed by state media this week which criticised the video gaming sector as nicely as on the net platforms that enable endorse celebrity culture.

Tencent on Tuesday introduced new curbs on minors’ entry to its flagship video match, “Honor of Kings”, following its shares ended up battered by a point out media short article that described on the internet games as “religious opium”. go through a lot more

Reuters described in April, citing folks familiar with the matter, that China is preparing a significant wonderful for Tencent as section of its sweeping antitrust clampdown on the country’s world wide web giants, but it is probably to be less than the document $2.75 billion penalty imposed on Alibaba (9988.HK).

Reporting by Yilei Solar and Brenda Goh in Beijing, and Twinnie Siu in Hong Kong
Enhancing by Susan Fenton, Andrew Heavens and Jacqueline Wong

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