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TikTok: Technology Overview and Issues Appendix. What Is WeChat? WeChat was released in January 2011 and in 2018 became the world’s most-used standalone mobile app, with over 1 billion monthly active users.67 WeChat has been described as China’s “app for everything”68 because of its wide range of functions. Through the app, users can send messages, make mobile payments for purchases and send money to other users,69 hail a ride, exchange contact information through Quick Response (QR) codes, share “moments” (similar to Facebook’s “Newsfeed”), buy tickets to movies, and book a hotel room—as well as many other activities. In the second quarter of 2020, the app had an estimated 1.2 billion monthly active users,70 up from about 889 million monthly active users in 2016. Tencent, the Chinese company that owns WeChat, is the biggest video game company in the world. It was founded in 1998 and is worth about $500 billion as of May 2020.71 The company owns the U.S. game studio Riot Games, as well as a large stake in U.S.-based Epic Games, which developed the popular game Fortnite. As with TikTok, researchers have found evidence that WeChat shares user data with the Chinese government: “Every day, millions of WeChat conversations held inside and outside China are flagged, collected, and stored in a database connected to public security agencies in China.”72 Some U.S. users have reported that their messages to friends, family, and colleagues in China stopped being delivered after they shared news articles critical of the Chinese government; once they stopped sharing such articles, their access was restored.73 Author Information Patricia Moloney Figliola Specialist in Internet and Telecommunications Policy 67 “Number of Monthly Active Wechat Users from 2nd Quarter 2011 to 2nd Quarter 2020,” Statista, August 20, 2020, at https://www.statista.com/statistics/255778/number-of-active-wechat-messenger-accounts/. 68 “How WeChat Became China’s App for Everything,” FastCompany.com, January 2, 2017, at https://www.fastcompany.com/3065255/china-wechat-tencent-red-envelopes-and-social-money. (Hereinafter, “How WeChat Became China’s App for Everything.”) 69 “How WeChat Became China’s App for Everything.” 70 “Number of Monthly Active Wechat Users from 2nd Quarter 2011 to 2nd Quarter 2020,” Statista, August 20, 2020, at https://www.statista.com/statistics/255778/number-of-active-wechat-messenger-accounts. 71 “WeChat Revenue and Usage Statistics (2020),” BusinessOfApps.com, July 30, 2020, at https://www.businessofapps.com/data/wechat-statistics/#1. 72 “China Intercepts WeChat Texts from U.S. and Abroad, Researchers Say,” NPR.org, August 29, 2019, at https://www.npr.org/2019/08/29/751116338/china-intercepts-wechat-texts-from-u-s-and-abroad-researcher-says. (Hereinafter, “China Intercepts WeChat Texts from U.S. and Abroad, Researchers Say.”) 73 “China Intercepts WeChat Texts From U.S. and Abroad, Researchers Say.” Congressional Research Service 12PDF Image | TikTok: Technology Overview and Issues Updated October 21, 2020 Congressional Research Service
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