Weixin is a Gift to the Surveillance State

     Weixin is a gift to the survelliance state.  I’m taking a graduate level “Social Media Marketing” course as part of my MFA program in Creative Writing.  In addition to learning about American social media, we’re also learning how social media is done in other countries and cultures.  In China, a social media app called Weixin has more than a billion downloads and is the predominant app for “everything” in China.  It’s pronounced “way-shin.”  I couldn’t pronounce it either.  From its inception by parent company, Tencent, in 2011, Weixin has become the predominant app in China used to find things, chat, purchase products, conduct financial transactions, share photos, and make videos.  This is remarkably convenient if one is a law-abiding, Communist-loving, apolitical, Chinese citizen.  But, one’s account can be shut down if one criticizes the Communist party or shares images or statements critical of the government.  With a person’s entire “life” on this app, including banking accounts, the Communist party can destroy a person with a mouse click.  Go-along to get-along or else.  This app is a survelliance state’s easist way to crack down on dissidents.

     As an American, with First Amendment rights to free speech (even stupid speech), it’s easy to be critical of the billions of Chinese people who have downloaded and use the Weixin app.  Unlike Americans, they don’t get to choose their governmental leadership.  China has been ruled by despots and dictators for centuries.  But, even in a democratic republic, like the United States, the elected government still struggles with surveillance.  The National Security Agency (NSA) has been eavesdropping on the telecommunications industry for decades.  Even with safeguards in place, whistleblowers like Edward Snowden (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-23123964) show that illegal data collection on Americans continues despite the official policies that prohibit such activity.  The technology to do so has tempted “the government” to cross the line in order to make the nation a “safer” place.  The argument goes that law-abiding citizens have nothing to fear by surveillance.  Only criminals would object to this snooping.  And, while there is a logic to this argument, that logic no longer applies when the government becomes corrupt, or small parts of government.  When a surveillance state has control over a person’s life, with tools like the Weixin app, a single mouse-click can spell economic and social disaster for a person who gets on the wrong side of government, or that corrupt little piece of it.  Citizens trade their anonymity and due process over to governmental agencies that enforce cryptic “user terms of agreement.”  Go-along to get-along becomes the passive citizen’s mantra for enjoying the app’s benefits.

     And, Weixin DOES provide benefit.  One of the cute little features that caught my eye was the Red Envelope campaign where a user can gift money to friends and relatives using a random distribution set by the app.  For instance, a user can donate a total of $50 to be split among four people.  One recipient might get lucky and get $30, while another might get just $2.  This totally is fun and would spark the gambler instincts in participants.  The downside is that financial information must be shared with the app.  Weixin has taxi-finding features, a Chinese eBay function, restaurant ordering features, text and photo sharing, and many others.  It’s designed to be a one-size fits all social media platform.  EVERYBODY has it says BBC journalist Stephen McDonell (https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-china-blog-48552907). McDonell intentionally posted images of the 30 year anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Uprising and got his account banned. Read the user agreement carefully.  Go-along to get-along.

     Nearly every dystopian novel or movie begins with some new technology that simplifies life for users and connects them with others.  Then, the surveillance state uses that technology to exploit the users, enslaving them in a system where not-getting-along means imprisonment, death, or persecution.  Millions of Russian and Chinese citizens have been abused by their dictatorships in the twentieth century for criticizing the government.  New monitoring capabilities makes it even easier for modern surveillance states to abuse its citizens.  In an existing surveillance state, like China, the dystopia is already out of the bag.  Short of a mass uprising, that surveillance genie isn’t going back into the bottle.  But, it’s not too late for democracies and republics to simply decline the tempting features offered by social media giants.  I won’t take any satisfaction in saying “I told you so,” after you’ve sold your soul to the mega-corporations who control social media.  Now is the time to insist on regulation, transparency, ability to decline surveillance-capable features, and user agreements that can be negotiated.