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After WeChat is blocked

#微信#封号1885
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This post is translated from Chinese into English through AI.View Original
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On February 4, 2023, the person's WeChat account was permanently banned. They discuss the limitations of being banned, such as not being able to send messages or join groups, but they can still use WeChat Pay. They also mention how being banned affects other Tencent platforms like QQ. The author believes their content should exist and has exported their data from WeChat Moments and QQ Space. They find the process interesting and want to showcase their content on social media platforms. They appealed the ban but were denied. They received a confusing phone call and suspect the ban may be due to an automatic system. They share screenshots of their conversation and provide links to tutorials on exporting moments and QQ space.

2023.2.4. My WeChat account has been permanently banned.

Screenshot 2023-10-27 at 17.45.07

Although it has been more than half a year since the incident, I have thought about many related issues intermittently during this period and hesitated about whether it is meaningful to write something. But in the end, today, on a day that feels like living in a novel by Marquez, I decided to write down everything, including how I managed to export my WeChat Moments data and QQ Zone data. I believe that recording itself is meaningful.

The World After Being Banned#

"After being banned, it's like being a cyber ghost. You can still see the messages others send, but you can no longer reply, and others don't know." This description is like an urban legend, always heard of, and now I finally experienced it myself.

Simply put, after WeChat is banned, you can no longer send messages, grab red envelopes in WeChat groups, be added to new WeChat groups, or add new friends. You cannot scan QR codes of mini programs... Well, most of the things are not allowed, let's talk about what you can do.

  1. You can use WeChat Pay.

    WeChat Pay and WeChat messaging are basically two independent systems, and being banned does not affect WeChat Pay. Others can transfer money to you through private messages, and you can also transfer money to your friends through private messages.

    • However, you cannot send red envelopes or leave messages when transferring money.

    You can scan other people's payment codes to pay, or let others scan your payment code to pay.

    • However, you must directly scan the payment code to make a payment. Some merchants implement payments through mini programs. For example, some vending machines only support WeChat payment, which is not possible after WeChat is banned. Because fundamentally, it still requires scanning and recognizing the mini program, but it is impossible to scan mini program QR codes after WeChat is banned.

  2. You can use mini programs in chat history/message records.

    • Although you cannot scan and recognize mini programs, you can still open mini programs in chat history. Or you can use mini programs sent by others in chats (after all, receiving messages is still normal).
    • Whether a mini program can be used normally depends on its functionality. If a mini program requires login information to function properly, it won't work. Because login information is abnormal after being banned.
      • For example, I cannot use a mini program for ordering food at a restaurant because it requires login. But I have been using a mini program for paying parking fees, which does not require login, you just need to enter the license plate number and it will redirect to WeChat Pay.

  3. WeChat Reading can still be used.

    • I haven't logged out of WeChat Reading, and I'm not sure if I can log in again if I log out.

  4. Third-party platforms that use WeChat login can still be used.

    • I'm not sure if there are any third-party platforms that only support WeChat login. In any case, after being banned, I realized that most apps that support WeChat login also require phone number verification for login, so there is no need to worry about not being able to log in to third-party platforms.

In addition, the first thing I learned was that being banned from WeChat means being banned from the entire Tencent ecosystem. All QQ accounts linked to the same phone number will also be permanently banned. Unlike WeChat, which can still be logged in, QQ cannot be logged in again. However, the good news is that QQ Mail can still be logged in, and although others cannot see QQ Zone, you can still access your own QQ Zone, so we can still export our data, fortunately.

What I Said, Why I Said It, and Why I Exported Data#

After being banned from WeChat, many friends were curious about what I said to get banned. I don't want to think about this question because I believe it is a form of self-censorship. What I said was simply what I wanted to say, and it doesn't really matter who I said it to. Now I have exported all my Moments/QQ Zone data and posted them on the blockchain. If anyone is interested, they can take a look.

(Note: Because Moments and QQ Zone are more personal in nature, when displaying them publicly, I have removed some content that is closely related to my personal life or privacy, and I have also removed tracking parameters from some URLs.)

Yes, the first thing I thought of after being banned from WeChat was to export my Moments data. And in fact, I spent a lot of time researching how to export the data.

Many people may have questions like "Why do this?", "Does what you wrote really have such great value?", "Is it worth spending so much time on this?" and so on.

This actually depends on our perspective of the world. I hope that the content of my Moments and QQ Zone can be displayed again because they should exist in the first place. Whether or not this content is garbage is not important. Of course, these are indeed important content for me, and I hope to have a backup. Also, honestly, this whole thing is really interesting, isn't it? "The word 'forbidden' is the most urgent invitation."

I admit that this is not a cost-effective thing to do, nor is it an efficient thing to do. Even writing this article itself is a waste of time. But what is important to a person is difficult to filter out based on certain standards. And I know that there are always people standing with me, even in the darkness. If I remain silent, I think I am doing the wrong thing, and I cannot forgive myself for that. Even though I wasted time doing all these things, it is the people who silence others who are wrong. Freedom fighters may fail, but they are always right.

The Course of Events#

Finally, let me tell the whole story of what happened.

Regarding WeChat: It is a WeChat account, not a WeChat International account. I have only logged in on an iOS phone, and the iOS system has always been updated to the latest version, as well as the WeChat app.

Regarding Moments: As mentioned above, I haven't posted any Moments for over two months before February 4th, and my settings allow Moments to be visible for one month.

Regarding chats: I only use WeChat to chat with others if it is necessary and they only use WeChat. I rarely participate in group chats. If I want to chat, there are thousands of groups on Telegram without restrictions on the number of participants. Why would I use WeChat?

Regarding QQ: I haven't posted anything on QQ Zone for over two months either, and there are no hidden settings on QQ Zone. I haven't used QQ to chat for several years.

However, there were still no signs. On a Saturday morning, I discovered that my WeChat account had been permanently banned. But later I realized that it wasn't just WeChat, three QQ accounts linked to the same phone number were also banned.

At that time, I appealed through WeChat, and to my surprise, not only did someone respond, but the processing speed was very fast. The next day, I received a phone call for follow-up. I asked why I was banned, and the person on the phone said, "The update notes for WeChat 8.0.32 clearly state everything. Think back to the content you posted and see if you violated any terms." I repeatedly asked which specific term and what content, but all I got were vague answers like, "The update notes clearly state everything, you should be able to distinguish it yourself." I asked if it could be unblocked, and the answer was no.

Listening to the repetitive voice on the other end of the phone like a robot, I felt a bit dazed. I was a bit self-deprecating and confused, why? Since it was a permanent ban and impossible to be unblocked, why did they respond to me and waste each other's time? I was changing equipment in a ski hall when I received the call, and my partner had already finished changing and was waiting for me. I didn't want to waste any more time, so I interrupted and said goodbye.

They would never explicitly say which specific statement I shouldn't have made, they just kept saying that I should know it myself. It's like a Soviet joke, "Don't think I don't know."

I still feel suspicious about why I was banned without any signs on a Saturday morning. Although customer service mentioned the update to version 8.0.32, it wasn't the direct cause because my WeChat had already automatically updated to that version in January. The most likely reason is some kind of automatic execution by a black box system.

Finally, here are some screenshots of conversations with friends about being banned from WeChat. Nice to meet you all!

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Exporting Moments and QQ Zone#

I have written a separate tutorial on how to export Moments: https://atlas.xlog.app/how-to-export-moments-and-post-on-chain

The tutorial for exporting QQ Zone is still being prepared.

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