UPDATE 1-Tencent’s WeChat to reveal user locations on public account posts

WeChat, which is owned by tech behemoth Tencent, said in a notice that it would begin testing the new setting - which applies only to users who operate "public accounts", widely used in China to share news, essays and other written content - soon. The new settings will display the province or municipality of users in China posting on their public accounts.

China's most popular messaging service WeChat will begin revealing users' locations when they post on a public account, it said on Friday. WeChat, which is owned by tech behemoth Tencent, said in a notice that it would begin testing the new setting - which applies only to users who operate "public accounts", widely used in China to share news, essays and other written content - soon.

The new settings will display the province or municipality of users in China posting on their public accounts. Posts made on public accounts operated by overseas users will display the country denoted by their IP address. The new setting is aimed at combating misinformation related to recent "domestic and overseas hot-topic issues", WeChat said, without elaborating. WeChat has more than 1.2 billion monthly users. The announcement came only a day after Weibo, another popular social media platform, introduced similar settings permanently after more than a month of testing.