Tencent temporarily suspended registration of new accounts on its flagship WeChat social media app in China, as technology companies continue to face increased government scrutiny.

In a social media post, Tencent asserted it was working to comply with relevant laws and regulations, and was therefore upgrading its security technology.

During the process it paused registration of new personal and official Weixin (the Chinese name for WeChat) accounts.

“Registration services will be restored after the upgrade is complete, which is expected in early August,” it stated.

China’s government is ramping scrutiny over domestic technology companies due to privacy, security and market power concerns.

In May, China’s cybersecurity watchdog ordered the developers of 33 mobile apps to comply with privacy rules or face penalties after collecting data without user consent.

Tencent and fellow major player ByteDance have already been in the State Administration for Market Regulation’s spotlight as part of a crackdown on anti-competitive practices.

WeChat notably also allows users to make online payments along with a range of other financial services.