China tech crackdown: Tencent to allows WeChat users access to rivals’ links

Shanghai: Tencent Holdings’ WeChat messaging app will start allowing users to access external links from Friday, days after Chinese regulators told the company and its rivals to end a long-standing practice of blocking each other’s links.

China’s technology giants have historically prevented links and services by rivals from being shared on their platforms. On Monday, however, regulators said they were ordering firms to rectify this as the practice affected users’ experience and damaged consumer rights.

The move is part of a broader China tech crackdown that has wiped billions of dollars off the market value of some of the country’s largest companies.