Futu News learned that on May 21, Tencent issued the “Supplementary Notice on Upgrading Backlink Management Rules”. The updated version of the announcement mainly explains and amends the following two points:

First, make it clear that the announcement is mainly about the rules governing the circle of friends.

Second, delete the second section of the notice that has not been updated, which regulates the dissemination of audiovisual content. This section clearly stipulates that “external links shall not distribute content containing audiovisual programs in any form without obtaining legal permission such as permission to distribute audiovisual programs on the information network.”

Below is the full text of the announcement issued by the WeChat team:

In order to protect the privacy and security of WeChat users and optimize the experience of WeChat external links in the circle of friends, we issued the “Notice on Further Upgrading the Rules for Managing Links”. After the announcement was published, feedback was received from some developers. In view of this, the following additional explanation has been added and amended:

1 The external link management rules announcement issued by WeChat Pie on May 18, 2018 is a management regulation for the circle of friends. The circle of friends is a space for users to share and follow the bits and pieces of their lives. In order to protect the privacy and legal rights of WeChat users, WeChat will always strictly manage the external links of the circle of friends.

2. Delete section 2 of the above announcement. The platform will further research plans with developers to jointly manage the quality and compliance of video content.

Updated version of the announcement:

Announcement on Further Upgrading the Link Management Rules of the Circle of Friends

(Updated 2018/5/21)

1. Standardize the dissemination of information such as special identification codes and passwords

In order to avoid harassment of users caused by excessive marketing, the circle of friends is not allowed to post or distribute special identification codes or password-like information with identification and marking functions.

[Examples]

2 Prohibit changing the user return path

External links in the circle of friends prohibit changing the user's return path, including but not limited to forcibly redirected to a page other than the next level when the user clicks “Back”.

3 Prohibit the use of floating layers containing user privacy data

Since the use of floating layers in external links may cause information such as user avatars and nicknames to be leaked, friend circle backlink sharing will prohibit the use of floating layers containing user data privacy; otherwise, it will be considered illegal.

[Examples]

4 Adopt a hierarchical handling mechanism for irregularities

You can apply to unblock an external link in your circle of friends after the first time it has been modified in violation of regulations. The application method is to send an email to moment tencent.com explaining the blocked link and the changes. The second time is blocked for 12 hours, the third time for one day, and the fourth time for one week or more. If it is completed without modification after that, it will not be unblocked.

Once discovered, the account, domain name, IP address, or sharing interface is permanently blocked for acts that engage in malicious technical confrontation even after breaking the rules (including but not limited to using multiple domains or multiple accounts to circumvent platform restrictions).

The above rules will officially come into effect on May 29th. More specific content can be found through the “WeChat External Link Content Management Code” and related platform rules.

WeChat will continue to regulate the rules for managing external links in the circle of friends to ensure the privacy and security of user data and a good user experience. Thank you all for working together to maintain a safe and healthy online environment.