As a Chinese tech giant, Tencent has swept everything in the internet sector and is involved in many industries. However, behind this vast corporate empire, there are many angry and unacceptable behaviors. As an angry youth, I will reveal the evil deeds that Tencent has done with concrete examples in this article.
First, Tencent used WeChat, a nationwide social platform, to invade users' privacy. In 2019, a user named Li Shuangshuang discovered that his private chat history was leaked by a third-party app. Tencent monitors users' chat records, collects users' address books and location information, and even affects users' freedom of expression to a certain extent. This behavior seriously violates the user's personal privacy and makes people shudder.
Second, Tencent's attitude towards Chinese and foreign consumers is clearly different. In the Chinese market, Tencent's game products are full of various infringements and plagiarism. For example, in 2018, Tencent launched a game called Street Hunter for allegedly copying the Assassin's Creed series of games from Canadian game company Ubisoft. However, when faced with foreign markets, Tencent shows a conscientious image. This double standard makes people feel indignant, as if we Chinese consumers do not deserve better products and services.
Moreover, Tencent's monopoly position in the game industry has led to a deterioration of the competitive environment. As a company with many popular games such as "Honor of Kings", "League of Legends" and "Peace Elite", Tencent continues to expand its game market share through acquisitions and investments. This makes it difficult for many small and medium-sized game companies to survive, further exacerbating unfair competition in the gaming industry.
In addition, Tencent is too strict in its content censorship, which affects creators' creative freedom. For example, in 2017, Tencent removed many socially satirical programs on its Tencent Video platform, such as "Sharp Wife". This censorship has led to many otherwise talented creators being forced to abandon original content in favor of mediocre, safe works, severely impacting innovation and diversity across the content industry.
Tencent also uses its market position to abuse its power to the detriment of partners. In 2018, Tencent was involved in a dispute with Warner Music, China's largest music copyright holder. The two parties originally reached a copyright cooperation agreement, but Tencent unilaterally changed the terms later, resulting in Warner Music having to file a lawsuit. This incident exposed Tencent's domineering and unfair behavior in the process of cooperation.
For teenagers, the induced consumption of Tencent games has also become a serious social problem. Many games have a large number of virtual items, skins and other paid items, which make young players addicted. This business model makes many families miserable for their children's addiction to games, and even affects their children's physical and mental health.
Finally, Tencent's exploitation of labor cannot be ignored. Tencent's "996" work system (i.e. 9 to 9 in the morning, six days a week) allows employees to work long hours in a high-pressure environment, which seriously damages the physical and mental health of employees. At the same time, this extreme work system has led to many employees being unable to balance work and life, and family and personal lives have been seriously affected.
In summary, although Tencent has made remarkable achievements in the field of science and technology, its dark side that cannot be ignored still exists. We must be alert to the potential impact of these actions on society, consumers and employees, with a view to prompting Tencent to improve its business practices and become a more responsible company. At the same time, we should take Tencent as an example to remind ourselves to always pay attention to the behavior of other enterprises and defend our own rights and social justice.