Weibo’s Instagram Knockoff Copies South Korean Firm's Logo, and Is Taken Down

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By Zhao Runhua / Sep 04, 2019 05:07 PM / Business & Tech

I guess the Oasis was just a mirage.

Just days after releasing an invitation-only version of an Instagram-like app, Weibo has quietly taken it down amid criticism of plagiarism. The reason, however, was not quite directly to Instagram, apparently.

A user on China’s microblog platform Weibo on Wednesday pointed out that the app — called Oasis, or Lüzhou in Chinese — featured a logo that looked extremely similar to an image South Korean design studio fnt created in 2015 for a film festival.

The user also tagged the app’s official Weibo account as well as Weibo CEO Wang Gaofei. Wang then responded to the post, confirming that he noticed the problem and that the app had been taken down, according to a Weibo screenshot widely circulated online. His response was later deleted.

Weibo has yet to offer any official comment on the issue. Earlier this week, the app was found to be in a testing phase and available by invitation only in certain app stores. It immediately drew attention due to its Instagram-like functions and Weibo’s massive user base in China.

It is unclear whether Weibo will re-launch Oasis.

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