Tencent’s WeChat and Kaspersky’s suite of applications have been removed from government-issued mobile devices effective October 30, 2023. Going forward, users of these devices will be blocked from downloading the apps.
WeChat is the super app in China with over 1 billion monthly users, and is a ubiquitous part of daily life in China. You can essentially do everything through WeChat, which is convenient.
However, this convenience comes at a cost. WeChat has monopolized the market to the extent that users have little say in front of the app. Identity verification is mandatory, and the app can suspend accounts at any time. And WeChat has always had the support of the central government, receiving funding, and the government has often restricted or banned competing apps.
But WhatsApp, Microsoft, Google, etc. are fine. Sure…
I’m surprised that government devices aren’t heavily locked down so users only have the bare minimum apps and lock installs. Even weirder that government officials would be allowed to use the device for personal use. That’s how I’d think work devices would be handled to try to reduce attack vectors.
Theres so many different government jobs that involve having a phone and not all of them have a budget for mobile device management solutions.
In here whatsapp is omnipresent, used for everything & everywhere, no distinction whatsoever, if you don’t have it you’re cut off, doesn’t matter if it’s public or private
WhatsApp ≠ WeChat
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Kaspersky is closely tied to Russian government. The dude himself (founder and CEO) has a government position as one of Putin’s advisors or something. Also he believes that anonymity should be purged from the internet, and every user should be personally indentified, enforced by the government. In the name of “security”, of course.
