By Eduardo Baptista
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s cyberspace regulator said 1.4 million social media posts have been deleted following a two-month probe into alleged misinformation, illegal profiteering, and impersonation of state officials, among other “pronounced problems”.
The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said in a statement on Friday it had closed 67,000 social media accounts and deleted hundreds of thousands of posts between March 10 and May 22 as part of a broader “rectification” campaign.
Since 2021, China has targeted billions of social media accounts in a bid to “clean” its cyberspace and make it easier for authorities to control.
The latest crackdown targeted accounts on popular Chinese social media apps including WeChat, Douyin, and Weibo that fall under the category of “self media,” a term that broadly refers to accounts that publish news and information but are not government-run or state-approved.
Beijing regularly arrests citizens, and censors their accounts, for sharing information considered sensitive, or critical, of the Communist Party or government.
Of the 67,000 accounts that were permanently closed, almost 8,000 were taken down for “spreading fake news, rumours, and harmful information,” according to CAC.
Around 930,000 other accounts also received lesser punishments – from the removal of followers to the suspension or cancellation profit-making privileges.
The regulator has recently launched a campaign to close over 100,000 accounts which allegedly misrepresented media agencies and news anchors. This is in response to the increase of fake news online, aided by AI technology.
The CAC on Friday said its latest campaign had targeted almost 13,000 counterfeit military accounts, with names such as “Chinese Red Army Command”, “Chinese Anti-terrorist Force” and “Strategic Missile Force”.
About 25,000 additional accounts were targeted by hackers who impersonated public institutions like disease and prevention control centres and state-run institutes of research.
Nearly 187,000 were sanctioned for impersonating news media, while more than 430,000 offered professional advice and educational services allegedly without relevant professional qualifications.
Around 45,000 accounts were closed for “hyping hot issues, clout-chasing and illegal monetisation.”
The regulator said it had “actively coordinated with public security, market supervision and other departments, to deliver a heavy blow and rectify illegal ‘self-media’.”
“At the same time, (we) also call on the majority of netizens to actively participate in monitoring and reporting (illegal ‘self-media’), provide clues … and jointly maintain a clean cyberspace,” it added.
(Additional reporting and editing by Ella Cao & Bernard Orr)
Disclaimer: The Reuters news service generated this report. ThePrint is not responsible for the content of this report.