After Tencent cracked down on vaping sales through WeChat resellers, how are social-feed sellers doi

On the evening of March 12, Tencent Security Center released an announcement regarding the crackdown on the sale of prohibited items and fraudulent activities through personal WeChat accounts, marking electronic cigarette advertisements in WeChat Moments as a typical case of prohibited activities for the first time.

How are sellers of electronic cigarettes in WeChat Moments faring under this impact?

Some deleted their ads overnight, some are preparing to sell their accounts, and some had six accounts banned.

A netizen revealed that after the announcement, he deleted his electronic cigarette ads from WeChat Moments overnight, removing ads from "Yooz Generation 1 to Zhi Yang, and RELX Generation 1 to 5".
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Deleting ads from WeChat Moments shows an attitude of compliance with the announcement, but can it really help avoid the fate of being banned?

From what I learned in the WeChat group I belong to, multiple brand store accounts operated by netizens were banned due to the announcement, with some having six accounts banned.

This netizen stated that multiple store WeChat accounts were banned.

Another netizen had six accounts banned.

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Under Tencent's high-pressure crackdown, some netizens, unable to bear the pressure, sought to sell their accounts and publicly inquired about prices in WeChat groups.

From a brand perspective, cracking down on ads in WeChat Moments is a good thing. According to relevant channels, several brand executives expressed support for Tencent's announcement, stating:

Executive from Xiaoye: If this regulation is strictly enforced, issues like parallel imports and counterfeit products that are prevalent among WeChat sellers will be controlled. Legitimate store owners will no longer have to fear price disruptions caused by WeChat sellers. For brands that adhere to long-termism, this is a significant benefit.

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Executive from nicepro: This is indeed a good thing for brands that are serious about their physical operations.

Insights from Vapor Technology:

The term "prohibited" is debatable; we support cracking down on market disruption.

Regarding Tencent's crackdown on electronic cigarette ads in WeChat Moments under the name of "prohibited" items, is electronic cigarette really a prohibited item? Vapor Technology Insights has always questioned the scientific classification and legal basis of Tencent's actions. You can refer to previous articles on Tencent's crackdown on WeChat sellers, but the prohibition of electronic cigarettes remains questionable.

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However, among the banned accounts, in addition to legitimate brand store accounts, there are also many WeChat sellers promoting various counterfeit and substandard electronic cigarettes. We support the crackdown on ads in WeChat Moments that disrupt market order.