TikTok owner ByteDance claims WeChat banning links makes Douyin more social in latest public spat with Tencent

  • ByteDance China CEO Kelly Zhang says Douyin, China’s version of TikTok, is becoming a more social platform because its links are blocked on WeChat
  • Competition between ByteDance and WeChat owner Tencent has been ramping up in many areas in recent years, including games and video streaming

ByteDance China CEO Kelly Zhang said users of Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, are socialising more on the platform because the competing WeChat platform blocks links to the short video app. Photo: AP

The head of ByteDance’s China operations said Douyin users have become more social on the platform because of WeChat’s policy of blocking links to the short video app, becoming the latest volley in a bitter exchange between the two Chinese tech titans.

Kelly Zhang, CEO of ByteDance China and head of Douyin, said at an event organised by tech media GeekPark that Tencent’s decision to ban Douyin video links on the country’s most popular social network has led users to rely more on the social features within the short video app.
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