China's Military Wives Warned Off Social Media

China's People's Liberation Army has issued tough new social media guidelines for the wives of serving officers.

It comes amid concerns that potentially sensitive information is being shared between spouses on the WeChat social media network. 

Brigade commanders have reportedly been ordered to organise lectures about confidentiality for family members and appoint a selected wife to manage and monitor online chat groups.

Serving members in the PLA are already subject to extremely strict rules on the use of the internet and mobile phones. They are also forbidden from creating personal blogs, taking part in online chats and even searching for new jobs online. 

WeChat, similar to WhatsApp, is the predominate social media tool in China with around 400 million users in the country.

The service, itself subject to censorship, is also an increasingly used promotional and communication platform for the Chinese government, state media and state-backed companies.