WeChat user jumps to death after protesting Tencent’s ‘arbitrary’ suspension

Tech giant Tencent, owner of China’s must-have messaging-and-everything app WeChat, has confirmed today that the death of a WeChat user on August 15 was suicide. He had jumped off the roof of an 11-story office building rented to the company in Shenzhen.

A spokesperson from Tencent told The Paper (in Chinese) that its customer service center in the building was closed on the day of the man’s suicide, and that none of its employees were in communication with him prior to his death. The spokesperson also noted that on August 12, WeChat suspended the man’s WeChat account for 72 hours after receiving complaints of him posting “pornographic and sexually offensive” content on the platform.

According to the man’s brother (in Chinese), the 21-year-old WeChat user, surnamed Tang, filmed a video of himself explaining reasons for his suicide. He did this just before he left home on August 15. In the clip, Tang, who owned a small business in Shenzhen, said that he had filed multiple appeals in response to the suspension but WeChat never responded to his requests.

“He tried to speak to a real human at WeChat but kept receiving automated replies,” the brother said. “The suspension caused a serious disruption to his business.”

He alleged that WeChat didn’t tell his brother the cause of the suspension nor the length of it, saying that Tang’s suicide was indirectly triggered by his confusion over the punishnment and WeChat’s “poor” customer service afterward. He also revealed that Tang’s family had received a compensation of 150,000 yuan ($21,770) when local police intervened, but it’s unclear whether or not the money was from Tencent.

On Chinese social media, most people shared the view that Tang’s suicide was an overreaction to the situation. But many observers used the incident as an opportunity to excoriate Tencent for what they called “arbitrary decisions” on the suspension of accounts and the censorship of content. Some also argued that WeChat’s inaction on Tang’s appeals exposed the platform’s long-standing refusal to more actively address users’ complaints and concerns.

“Since when did WeChat have customer care? I called its customer service hotline today and no one responded. Today is supposed to be a weekday,” a Weibo user wrote (in Chinese). Another person commented (in Chinese), “I hope Tang’s death will lead to more respect for customers on WeChat’s part.”

As the most commonly used digital social tool in China, WeChat is no stranger to criticism about its illegal collection of user information and regular censorship of content deemed politically sensitive by Chinese authorities. When a WeChat account gets shut down, the platform often cites unspecific reasons like “anonymous complaints” or “violation of relevant regulations.”