Chinese censorship-busters claim Tencent is trying to kill its WeChat archive

Alleges Singaporean infosec outfit sent feeble legal demands to hosting company, which caved

UPDATED Anti-censorship organization GreatFire.org has accused Singapore infosec outfit Group-IB of helping Chinese web giant Tencent to quell its activities.

GreatFire researches China’s censorship efforts and publishes data about the material and apps Beijing blocks. The organization also archives material censored from Chinese websites at sites like FreeWeChat.com, which hosts material it believes authorities removed from Tencent-run WeChat – a messaging service with over a billion users that is ubiquitous in Chinese life.

In a Thursday post, GreatFire alleges that Tencent has tried to have FreeWeChat.com shut down.

“On June 12, 2025, Tencent’s legal representative – cybersecurity firm Group-IB – submitted a takedown complaint to our hosting provider, accusing FreeWeChat of trademark and copyright infringement, cybersquatting, and unfair competition,” the post states.

“They cite the use of the word ‘WeChat’ in our domain, even though FreeWeChat does not use WeChat's logo, claim affiliation, or distribute any modified WeChat software,” the post states, before suggesting a motive for the complaint: “The claim is thin, but the intent is clear: shut down a watchdog.”

GreatFire says it “responded in detail, refuting each allegation on both factual and legal grounds,” but its host complied.

The Register has asked GreatFire to provide documents and further detail about the incident but has not received a reply at the time of writing.

We also asked Group-IB for comment. The company is an infosec vendor and consultancy that commenced operations in Russia, but in 2018 moved to Singapore. At the time of writing, Group-IB had not responded to our inquiries.

“This is not a trademark issue, it’s censorship wrapped in legalese,” said GreatFire co-founder and lead developer Martin Johnson. “We’ve dealt with state-sponsored DDoS attacks. We’ve seen FreeWeibo removed from Apple’s App Store in China. Now we’re being targeted with spurious IP claims. They’re trying to use the legal system to do what technical attacks failed to achieve: erase our work from the web.”

GreatFire’s campaign and advocacy director Benjamin Ismail lashed Group-IB, saying it “knowingly submitted a legally flimsy complaint to pressure a weak hosting provider into compliance, serving Tencent’s political agenda while hiding behind the language of rights protection.”

At the time of writing, The Register was able to access FreeWeChat.com (at an IP address a whois search reports is used by a Cloudflare reverse proxy), however GreatFire’s post states it is “actively seeking alternative hosting arrangements and will continue to keep the site online” but welcomes technical support that helps it to arrange mirroring and decentralized hosting. ®

UPDATED AT 20:45 UTC JULY 16th

Group-IB responded on July 16th with the following comment from its CEO Dmitry Volkov:

Group-IB supports digital risk protection by assisting rights holders and platform partners in reporting potential cases of intellectual property misuse, brand impersonation, and copyright abuse.

In relevant cases, we may send copyright abuse notifications to hosting providers, registrars, or platform administrators. These notices are submitted under standard procedures and legal frameworks defined by applicable laws such as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), the EU Copyright Directive (EUCD), and other relevant regulations.

These notifications are intended to address cases involving the unauthorized use of protected trademarks, copyrighted content, or brand-related assets, such as names, logos, and proprietary materials that are subject to intellectual property protection.

It’s important to clarify that such requests do not constitute enforcement actions. The final decision to act on a notice always rests with the platform or service provider, and the affected party has the right to dispute or challenge the request through the appropriate mechanism.