Incredible to see this unfolding. To me WeChat is a much bigger deal. TikTok was made because the Great Firewall cut China off, but WeChat is one of the few apps that actually spans the filters and links communities within and outside China. Of course there will be workarounds... https://twitter.com/ccjanetang/status/1291546392935235586

If you're not up on WeChat, here's a video. It's an incredible product. It pushed Silicon Valley to rethink features in their apps. It's also a direct data conduit accessible by China's internet police and a state-controlled filter bubble in its own right. https://www.nytimes.com/video/technology/100000004574648/china-internet-wechat.html

The business implications are also interesting. Most major American cos in China use WeChat for marketing, ads, after sales services etc. Seems they would have to stop. China blocks Facebook/Twitter, but allows its firms and media to use those platforms to advertise abroad.

Tencent is also invested all over the place. It has stakes in gaming companies that make League of Legends, Clash of Clans, Fortnite, and Activision Blizzard itself. It also has a stake in SnapChat. Would these have to be undone?

And finally culturally...WeChat links the Chinese diaspora to their relatives in China. There's few other options because Beijing blocks int'l messaging apps. This will make it much harder for exchange students to call home and immigrants to talk to parents in China.