Parents in China urged by police to delete encrypted messaging apps from children’s phones

Messages warning against children using instant messaging apps such as the long-blocked Telegram and the homegrown BatChat have been circulating on the social media accounts of local police across the country since last week. To prevent youngsters from inadvertently becoming ‘accomplices’ to fraud, police have urged parents to delete encrypted messaging apps from their children’s smartphones.

Encrypted messaging apps are a ‘grey area’ where criminals can use flowery language to persuade young people to reveal private information and fall for online scams that could take the form of interface design giveaways, easy money schemes or ‘fandom opportunity offers’, according to warnings posted by police in several cities on social media platforms. By encrypting chat data and using a ‘delete once read’ feature, criminals could destroy evidence and hamper investigations. Children tricked into chatting with them can be seen as aiding and abetting cybercrime.

China has tightened its cybersecurity controls recently, with the Data Security and Personal Information Protection Law passed in 2021 underlining the authorities’ intention to protect domestic internet security. Companies considered critical information infrastructure providers should store data collected on the Chinese mainland locally and undergo a security audit before sending data abroad.