For the first time, a court witness on Tuesday gave evidence remotely via WeChat.
"We don't need to go anywhere...Giving evidence via WeChat is very convenient, and it saves time," said the witness, who is a police officer.
The witness, surnamed Gong, used WeChat's "digital remote video platform" to provide a witness testimony as requested by the People's Court of Yuexiu district, Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province, chinanews.com said. He was also requested to confirm his identity via facial recognition technology enabled through the popular Chinese app.
According to the court, to ensure security and to protect identities during evidence giving, facial verification is needed, the feature of which was jointly developed with a third-party company based on guidelines published by the Ministry of Public Security.
Giving evidence via WeChat provides convenience for witnesses and saves judicial departments from using public money to pay for witness travel and other court resources.
