WeChat surveils international accounts to decide what to censor for Chinese users, study says

In order to build up its censorship algorithm, WeChat surveils international accounts to decide what gets through to China-registered users. A Citizen Lab study finds that the messaging app blacklisted more than 500 keyword combinations relating to the COVID-19 pandemic. About the findings, Ron Deibert told the South China Morning Post: “If users [of WeChat] weren’t concerned before, they should be very concerned now and re-evaluate the risks of using this application.”