China’s party officials warned not to cross ‘red lines’ while using WeChat

Disparaging party policies, sharing pornography and spreading rumours are among eight “red lines” Chinese Communist Party officials must not cross while using WeChat, a popular social media platform, the ruling party’s disciplinary watchdog has instructed.

As with many other large organisations that seek to moderate their members’ social media presence, the 88-million-member Chinese Communist Party has been attempting to control the words and acts of its officials on WeChat, the Tencent Technologies mobile platform that has 889 million active users.

According to a notice published on a WeChat account run by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, the anti-graft agency run by Wang Qishan, the other prohibited behaviours are accepting electronic “red envelopes” of money transfers, vote-rigging, leaking confidential information, opening online shops and publishing “inappropriate” statements.

While US President Donald Trump is known for delivering policy message via his Twitter account, China’s top leaders are still largely distancing themselves from social media platforms. At the same time, Chinese government agencies and local authorities are rushing to create accounts on platforms such as WeChat and Weibo to deliver information directly to the public.

Chinese residents increasingly rely on such mobile platforms to socialise and work.

WeChat is particularly popular with mobile phone users for its chat, phone call, picture sharing, payment and shopping functions.