Home » Metro » Health and Science
WeChat closes ‘misleading’ account run by city hospital
Print Edition
THE operator of instant messaging service WeChat yesterday closed down an account set up by a private hospital for being deliberately misleading.
The name of the account held by the Shanghai Hongci Children’s Hospital differed from one run by the Shanghai Children’s Hospital — a leading state facility — by just one character, the company said.
The closure came after WeChat received a complaint from the state hospital.
It said Hongci registered a public account under a different name, but changed it to the one that caused the offense.
The Shanghai Children’s Hospital said it filed a complaint after spotting the rival account in September.
Niu Jun, who manages the state hospital’s WeChat account, said he was concerned that people in need of medical assistance would contact the wrong place.
“The account includes a reservation function, so patients, especially those from other regions, might be fooled into making an appointment at the private hospital instead of with us,” he said.
Hongci denied it had deliberately sought to mislead WeChat users.
A lawyer, however, said the private hospital had violated the public hospital’s rights by using a similar name.
“Its purpose was to make use of the good name of the public hospital to promote its services and attract patients,” said Liu Chunquan, a senior partner at Shanghai Panocean Law Firm.
WeChat said it will tighten its procedures with regard to changing account names.
“We will enhance the system for public account registration and changing account names,” it said in a statement.
According to Niu, people who are unsure about a WeChat account should look for a red tick next to the name, as this indicates that the owner has provided evidence of its business credentials.
“The tick means the account has been checked,” he said.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
