If you follow Uber on China’s hottest social network WeChat, you may have already noticed: the American startup has gotten blocked. Accessing Uber’s official WeChat account, along with a number of its local accounts in Chinese cities, now produces the following message (as pictured below): “Because it was reported by users and confirmed [by WeChat], the account you’re following has been blocked from using all features for violating the rules.”
The rule Uber apparently violated is a section of the WeChat terms and conditions that prohibits public accounts like Uber’s corporate accounts from incentivizing sharing by offering deals or “enticing” users to share things with their friend groups. WeChat sees this kind of pushing people to share as harming the overall user experience.
The good news for the car company is that the ban won’t last forever. According to WeChat’s guidelines, the minimum punishment for enticing users to share is a 7-day block, and that’s likely what Uber has been saddled with. Probably, the accounts that have been blocked will be able to begin operations again sometime next week.
(Source: Sina Tech)
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