Canada bans WeChat, Kaspersky applications on government devices

Tencent’s WeChat and Kaspersky’s suite of applications have been removed from government-issued mobile devices effective October 30, 2023. Going forward, users of these devices will be blocked from downloading the apps.

WeChat is the super app in China with over 1 billion monthly users, and is a ubiquitous part of daily life in China. You can essentially do everything through WeChat, which is convenient.

However, this convenience comes at a cost. WeChat has monopolized the market to the extent that users have little say in front of the app. Identity verification is mandatory, and the app can suspend accounts at any time. And WeChat has always had the support of the central government, receiving funding, and the government has often restricted or banned competing apps.

onlinepersona,

But WhatsApp, Microsoft, Google, etc. are fine. Sure…

vowseh,

In here whatsapp is omnipresent, used for everything & everywhere, no distinction whatsoever, if you don’t have it you’re cut off, doesn’t matter if it’s public or private

mp3,
@mp3@lemmy.ca avatar

WhatsApp ≠ WeChat

woshang, (edited )

Canada banning WeChat is a great idea, for the country’s security and privacy. Speak of that, look at what Elon is doing; he keeps trying to turn Twitter into WeChat, and he won’t stop until he makes it true!

In case you are not familiar with WeChat and the seriousness of its censorship toward users: 👇

https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/dd6ed370-c8bf-43ad-b12c-152ebce76f8b.png

We have to ditch centralized platforms for our own sake! And there are plenty of choices: Mastodon, Misskey, WireMin, Damus.(PS: WireMin is a combination of a private messenger & social media; it’s my favorite for now because I get to join chat groups for anonymous discussions.)

Amaltheamannen,

While I agree that privacy is important the censorship claim in the image is based entirely on “I think”, no proof beyond opinion.

Zoboomafoo,
@Zoboomafoo@lemmy.world avatar

“There’s no proof of censorship in the USSR, I can go to the Party Library and read whatever books I want”

Amaltheamannen,

I don’t deny it’s plausible, but back it up with something stronger than “I suspect”.

m_r_butts,

deleted_by_author

    •
    jeansibelius, (edited )

    Kaspersky is a russian proprietary peace of crap that can’t be trusted by default.

    deadcream,

    Kaspersky is closely tied to Russian government. The dude himself (founder and CEO) has a government position as one of Putin's advisors or something. Also he believes that anonymity should be purged from the internet, and every user should be personally indentified, enforced by the government. In the name of "security", of course.

    NightOwl,

    I’m surprised that government devices aren’t heavily locked down so users only have the bare minimum apps and lock installs. Even weirder that government officials would be allowed to use the device for personal use. That’s how I’d think work devices would be handled to try to reduce attack vectors.

    krolden,
    @krolden@lemmy.ml avatar

    Theres so many different government jobs that involve having a phone and not all of them have a budget for mobile device management solutions.

    tioute,

    Agreed. These things should have never been allowed in the first place. And there’s soo many more Russian/Chinese apps that still need to be banned.

    krolden,
    @krolden@lemmy.ml avatar

    Are the Russian/Chinese apps in the room with us right nnow?

    bl4ckeagle,

    No because i deleted them

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