With the fast development of ecommerce on social media, a Chinese company developed a social media management software which could execute automated operations of social networking app WeChat in batch, including friending, monitoring friends’ posting of moments, liking of shared moments, capturing information about user account, chain of friends and user's operation.

Believing that the software hindered the normal operation of its WeChat app and damaged its own data rights and interests, Tencent initiated a litigation before Hangzhou Internet Court.

Recently, the court ruled that the operator of the social media management software constituted unfair competition for the following reasons:

1)   The accused software, by executing batched operation of WeChat and releasing business information, distorted the service function of WeChat as a private social networking platform and caused obvious interference to users. Moreover, such operation endangered the safety, stability and efficiency of WeChat, which is against Article 12 of the Anti-unfair Competition Law.

2)   The data on WeChat can be divided into two categories: the data of individual users and the overall data as a whole. Although Tencent as the actual controller of data on WeChat does not have exclusive right to use the data of individual users, the overall data built up on WeChat platform based on long time investment of resources and operation can bring competitive advantages to Tencent. However, WeChat as a social networking app mainly functions to communicate private message and WeChat users have high sensitivity and security requirements for their personal WeChat data. Such user experience is directly related to the user's willingness to use WeChat app. The data management software has endangered the information security of WeChat users, which will inevitably cause the users of WeChat to lose basic trust in WeChat and impair the business interests and market competitiveness of Tencent.

Contributed by: Johnson Li