【中国观察2020年12月25日讯】自由亚洲电台报导，中国近年来强化压制公民言论的自由空间，因言获罪案件屡屡发生，一个共同的特点是 ， 当事人通过微信发布的信息，往往成为他们被入罪的“证据”。
例如，中国公民记者张展被控“多次通过微信等网络媒介”， “恶意炒作武汉市中共病毒肺炎疫情”；早前遭重判20年的重庆民营企业家李怀庆则被指，在其担任群主的微信群内，转发有关西藏流亡精神领袖达赖喇嘛的信息，“以爆料丶道义抗争丶暴力革命等方式颠覆国家政权”。
不愿透露姓名的中国独立媒体人刘先生形容，中共当局对微信的管控就是“斯塔西审查信件的现代版”。
他说，一个宪兵政治的社会会尽可能审查一切言论平台，专制政权搞白色恐怖就说明有些矛盾和危机已经无法蒙混过关了。
有过封号经历的刘先生表示，自己发言时从来不进行自我审查，他想以“人头”来“试探微信审查的规律和底线”。
他表示，微信主要监控10人以上的群和朋友圈，目的当然是阻止所谓“政治有害内容”的传播。敏感信息类会通过AI识别拦截，也就是你以为你发出去了，其实别人看不见。
另一名要求匿名的微信使用者，就曾因在微信群里转发香港“反送中”运动相关视频，而被封号丶“喝茶”。
他表示，打电话叫他到派出所，前前后后有三组人员审问他，有没有发给别人或者其他群？为什么这么做？信息来源？……还扣留他手机一个星期，警告不得转发香港的事。他当时才明白，微信是裸奔。
从事手机软体开发工作的王先生表示，微信用户信息无法保密的原因就在于，微信使用的是客户端到服务器加密，而不是端到端加密。
他说，“客户端加密就是除了你和对方，还有服务提供商知道你们说了什么，有泄漏信息的风险。如果是点对点，除了你和对方，没人知道你们说了什么。
他进一步表示，微信采用客户端加密技术是故意为之，中国所有的社交软体都要求有一个服务中心，政府不允许自己不能操纵的信息传播。这就是为什么，推特丶脸书丶Line这些社交通讯软体不能在大陆使用的原因。
中国公益人士杨占青表示，中共官方曾利用从微信获得的信息，对他噤声、污名化的遭遇。他说，微信和其它中共当局能控制的社交软体一样，俨然成为当局的宣传工具和监控平台。
《华尔街日报》23日发表文章《微信已成为中国无处不在的监控利器》指出，中国著名应用软体微信俨然已经成为中共政府监控公众、审查言论和惩处异见人士的工具。
文章称，与此同时，中国人的日常生活却越来越依赖微信。随着疫情期间远程办公和学习的兴起，微信在中国社会的主导地位更加根深蒂固。
文章提到，出于对微信监控的不安，一些用户今年初发起了“逃离微信”行动，呼吁大家转移到不受中共政府干预的外国软体平台。但是很快，行动的发起者就被当局传唤，行动几个月便告结束。
微信目前在全球拥有超过12亿活跃用户。美国川普政府今年9月出台对微信和Tiktok的禁令，指其“获取用户信息和实施审查”。禁令因在法院受到挑战，尚未生效。
时事评论员田园对本台表示，“美国的下一届政府，不管是谁，都要看到，让中共的这种间谍软体、这种监视软体在美国横行，会造成多么严重的后果，如果他们真正为美国的国家利益着想，他们一定会支持封禁微信或者是Tiktok。”
Expert: WeChat Has a 'Political Mission' and Deliberately Doesn't Use Encryption
The scope of the Chinese Communist Party's use of WeChat to censor the truth about the epidemic is shockingly broad. (Illustration by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
WeChat, the famous Chinese app that has been accused of being a tool for the Communist government to monitor people, censor speech and punish dissidents, has recently been "blocked" in the United States. WeChat's security has raised questions among users. Some experts say that WeChat has a "political mission" and deliberately does not use encryption technology.
Radio Free Asia reports that in recent years, China has intensified its efforts to suppress the freedom of expression of its citizens, with cases of convictions for speaking out occurring repeatedly, a common feature of which is that the information posted by those involved through WeChat often becomes "evidence" of their conviction.
For example, Zhang Zhan, a Chinese citizen journalist, was accused of "maliciously speculating about the CCP pneumonia epidemic in Wuhan" through WeChat and other online media, while Li Huaikeng, a private entrepreneur in Chongqing who was sentenced to 20 years in prison, was accused of "subverting state power by means of information, moral resistance, and violent revolution" by forwarding information about the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, in a WeChat group of which he was the leader.
Mr. Liu, an independent Chinese media personality who asked not to be named, described the Communist authorities' control of WeChat as "a modern version of the Stasi censorship letter.
He said that a society with constitutional politics would censor all platforms of speech as much as possible, and that the authoritarian regime's white terror shows that some conflicts and crises can no longer be muddled through.
Mr. Liu, who has had his number blocked, said he never censors himself when he speaks, and he wants to "test the laws and bottom line" of WeChat's censorship with his "head".
He said that WeChat mainly monitors groups of more than 10 people and friends, the purpose is of course to stop the spread of so-called "political harmful content". Sensitive information is intercepted through AI recognition, which means you think you're sending it out, but no one else can see it.
Another WeChat user, who asked to remain anonymous, was blocked for forwarding videos related to Hong Kong's "anti-China" campaign in a WeChat group, and was "given tea".
He said that he was called to the police station and interrogated by three groups of people who asked him if he had sent it to other people or other groups. Why did you do it? The source of the information? ...... also detained his cell phone for a week, warning not to forward the Hong Kong matter. He realized then that WeChat was running naked.
Mr. Wang, who works in mobile software development, said that the reason WeChat users' information cannot be kept confidential lies in the fact that WeChat uses client-to-server encryption, not end-to-end encryption.
He said, "Client-side encryption means that in addition to you and the other party, there are service providers who know what you said, and there is a risk of information leakage. If it's peer-to-peer, no one knows what you've said except you and the other person.
He further said that WeChat's use of client-side encryption is intentional, as all social software in China requires a service center, and the government does not allow information to spread that it cannot manipulate. That's why Twitter, Facebook, and Line are not allowed to be used on the mainland.
Yang Zhanqing, a Chinese public interest activist, said that the Chinese Communist Party has used information obtained from WeChat to silence and stigmatize his experiences. He said WeChat, like other social networking software that the Chinese Communist Party authorities can control, has become a propaganda tool and surveillance platform for the authorities.
WeChat has become a ubiquitous surveillance tool in China," according to an article in the Wall Street Journal on 23 March, noting that WeChat, China's leading app, has become a tool for the Communist government to monitor the public, censor speech and punish dissidents.
At the same time, according to the article, Chinese people are increasingly dependent on WeChat in their daily lives. With the rise of telecommuting and learning during the epidemic, WeChat's dominance in Chinese society has become even more entrenched.
The article mentions that some users launched an "Escape from WeChat" campaign earlier this year, calling for people to move to foreign software platforms that are free from Communist government interference, out of anxiety over WeChat surveillance. But the initiators were soon summoned by authorities and the campaign ended within a few months.
WeChat currently has more than 1.2 billion active users worldwide. The Trump administration issued a ban on WeChat and Tiktok in September this year, accusing them of "accessing user information and censorship. The ban has not yet taken effect because it is being challenged in court.
Current affairs commentator Tian Yuan told the station, "The next U.S. administration, whoever it is, needs to see how serious the consequences are of allowing this spy software, this surveillance software from the Chinese Communist Party to run rampant in the U.S. If they are truly looking out for the national interest of the U.S., they will definitely support the banning of WeChat or Tiktok."