[ad_1]
BEIJING: Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings said authorities are investigating a company executive on allegations of “personal corruption” after a media report said the move was related to the sharing of his personal data. popular WeChat app.
The move comes amid Beijing’s unprecedented crackdown on its local internet platforms, which has ensnared some of its best tech innovators and private sector champions for violations of antitrust and data privacy rules.
Any violation of customer data protection rules would increase the pressure on local tech companies, which already face increased regulatory scrutiny after years of a laissez-faire approach.
READ: China issues new antitrust rules targeting its tech giants
The Wall Street Journal previously reported that Chinese authorities detained a Tencent executive as part of an investigation into a high-profile corruption case involving one of the country’s former top law enforcement officials.
“We can confirm that the case is related to allegations of personal corruption and is not related to Weixin or WeChat,” Tencent said in a statement to Reuters.
Citing people familiar with the matter, the Journal reported that the executive, Zhang Feng, has been investigated by China’s anti-corruption inspector since last year for an alleged unauthorized sharing of personal data collected by the social media app WeChat. from Tencent.
Tencent said in a statement to Reuters that Zhang’s case was not related to its international application WeChat or its national platform Weixin. He declined to elaborate.
“This is just one more example of how Beijing is tightening its grip on the big and powerful tech giants under its purview,” LightSTream Research analyst Mio Kato, who publishes in Smartkarma, told Reuters.
“This looks like an extension of the previous anti-corruption campaign that focused on the political structure.”
The Journal report said that Zhang was suspected of turning over WeChat data to former vice minister of public security Sun Lijun, who is being investigated by Beijing for undisclosed violations of Communist Party rules.
The researchers were looking at what kind of data Zhang might have shared with Sun and what Sun might have done with it, according to the report.
ANTI-GRAFTING DRIVE
The report comes as Chinese regulators and state media are becoming increasingly vocal about the infringement of consumer rights by tech companies, which use personal data to drive business, from selling products to acquiring customers.
READ: Will China’s new data security initiative define global standards? A comment
Chinese tech companies have also come under pressure to redouble corruption investigations in recent years, as a result of President Xi Jinping’s year-long anti-corruption campaign.
Tencent said earlier this month that it had laid off more than 100 employees over incidents of embezzlement and bribery.
Shares of Tencent, which is Hong Kong’s most valuable company with more than $ 900 billion in market capitalization, fell as much as 1.6% after the Journal report, but later fell back to end 0 down. .5% in a broader positive market.
Zhang was referred to as a vice president of Tencent in a 2018 statement issued by the municipal government of Zhangjiakou, a city near Beijing. Tencent, however, told Reuters he was neither a vice president nor a senior executive, without elaborating.
The Journal said Zhang could not be reached for comment and Sun did not respond to a request for comment sent through anti-corruption inspectors, the Central Commission for Disciplinary Inspection (CCDI) and the State Council Information Office. (SCIO).
The CCDI and SCIO did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
