ByteDance vs Tencent: Douyin bans financial, health care influencers from redirecting followers to Tencent’s WeChat and QQ

Finance videos, including those on economics and wealth management, are one of the most popular types of content on Douyin. ByteDance has previously complained about WeChat’s policy of banning links, including those from Douyin and its Feishu cloud office suite. — SCMP

ByteDance has pushed back against rumours that its short-video platform Douyin, the TikTok of China, was blocking links to rival Tencent’s WeChat and QQ social networking apps, alleging that the reports were a coordinated campaign targeting the platform.

However, the Beijing-based tech giant did clarify that it was blocking links to WeChat and QQ from finance- and health care-related content creators, citing a high risk of scams and illegal sales tactics on third-party platforms.