Further investigation revealed that SOCS2 overexpression suppressed cell proliferation and invasion, whereas SOCS2 down‐regulation promoted cell proliferation and invasion, which was reversed by WDFY3‐AS2 siRNA or overexpression, respectively. Mechanistically, SOCS2 overexpression obviously suppressed the levels of p‐JAK2 and p‐Stat5 proteins, but SOCS2 down‐regulation evidently promoted the expressions of p‐JAK2 and p‐Stat5 in ESCC cells; however, the effects were reversed by WDFY3‐AS2 down‐regulation or overexpression. Here, JAK2 is linked to esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.