ByteDance’s Feishu Banned on Tencent’s WeChat, Feud Escalates Between Two Internet Giants
Multiple functions of cloud office software Feishu, the Chinese version of Lark owned by ByteDance, are banned on Chinese Internet giant Tencent’s WeChat platform, according to the social media posts of Xin Xie, ByteDance’s vice president.
“Tencent’s bans on Feishu are uncalled for, and have disturbed many users’ work routines,” Xie said.
Xie pointed out that frequently used links under Feishu’s domain name cannot be stably accessed on WeChat, causing faulty login and download problems and interrupting Feishu’s normal usage.
“Since Feishu announced in 2020 that it will provide free services to small and medium-sized enterprises for three years, it has been blocked on Tencent’s WeChat without any reason,” Xie said.
Feishu has become increasingly popular among Chinese companies as an office tool, and as many companies have recently resumed remote work as COVID-19 cases rise again in China, Xie said ByteDance hopes that Tencent can be just and end the ban on Feishu.
This is not the first time that the two Internet giants quarreled over Feishu.
On Feb. 29, 2020, Feishu announced that its related domain names were banned by WeChat for no reason, and its API gateway was unilaterally closed by WeChat.
The two companies’ overlapping businesses in many industries such as gaming, video and internet literature undoubtedly intensified their feud.
SEE ALSO: WeChat Bans Page Links to ByteDance’s Productivity App Lark
Tencent has teamed up with Century Huatong, a leading firm in the online gaming sector, to solidify its position in the industry, while the video gaming affiliate of ByteDance allied with the entertainment firm Kaiser China Culture to develop pertinent businesses.
In the online literature sector, Tencent owns China Literature, one of the leading online literature company that reigns in the paid e-book industry, while ByteDance integrated its e-book business in 2020 and unveiled Fanqie Novel that also features audiobooks and AI narrators.
