Tencent recently updated the rules of its Chinese superapp WeChat to address a growing AI-related problem on social media platforms. According to a report by South China Morning Post, the company has updated its content governance rules to ban non-human automated publishing, including the use of artificial intelligence and scripts, amid a rise in technologies that can replace human creators.“Official accounts and service accounts must not use AI, scripts, APIs or other automated methods to replace human involvement in content production and distribution,” WeChat recently said via its official platform. The super app, marketed as Weixin in mainland China, is reportedly bringing this change to fight speculative and low-effort content. The updated guidelines prohibit mass-produced, formulaic or fragmented posts, as well as content generated, rewritten or repurposed by AI in ways that do not reflect original human intent. The dissemination of tools and services that enable non-human automated publishing is also banned.
How Chinese social media app WeChat’s new policy can solve AI posting on social media
Accounts found violating the rules may face penalties ranging from traffic restrictions and content removal to suspension or permanent bans, depending on the severity of the offence. WeChat’s move comes as platforms across the industry try to address the rapid growth of machine-generated content and concerns around its impact on human creators and content quality. The report noted that some content operators on WeChat took to social media to assert that they had deleted articles in batches. The reason behind these deletions was cited by WeChat as the “non-human automated content generation.”In 2024, ByteDance became stricter about oversight of AI content creation, requiring posts created with AI technology to be clearly labeled. Other platforms have done the same, including Bilibili and TikTok, with restrictions and content deletions applied for failure to label AI content, while repeat offenses would result in permanent account deletion.ByteDance’s news aggregation service Toutiao announced in its “Platform Governance White Paper of 2025″ about the deletion of over 2.6 million pieces of AI-generated content, in addition to dealing with around 11,000 accounts that published poor-quality content. On the other hand, ByteDance’s Douyin claimed to have blocked 42,000 sexually suggestive or vulgar AI contents published by 14,000 accounts in 2026 alone.Moreover, ByteDance-backed Hongguo Short Drama deleted 1,718 non-compliant titles last quarter, of which 670 were AI-generated.Chinese regulators have also introduced rules requiring clear labeling of AI-generated and synthetic content, including both visible and embedded identifiers, under a joint document issued by the Cyberspace Administration of China, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the Ministry of Public Security.WeChat also told Chinese media outlet The Paper that it supports the use of AI to assist content production and improve efficiency but does not allow fully automated systems that replace human involvement, the report added.
