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China’s Cyberspace Regulator Deletes 1.4 Million Posts on Social Media. PHOTO/Reuters
BEIJING – Cyber regulator China say, about 1.4 million posts social media was removed. This action was taken after a two-month investigation into allegations of misinformation, illegal profiteering and impersonation of state officials.
As reported by Reuters, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said in a statement on Friday (26/5/2023), that it had closed 67,000 social media accounts and deleted hundreds of thousands of posts between March 10 and May 22 as part of its “remedial” campaign. ” which is wider.
Since 2021, China has targeted billions of social media accounts in a bid to “clean up” 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. All three 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 frequently arrests citizens and censors accounts for publishing or sharing factual information it deems sensitive or critical of the Communist Party, government or military, especially when the information goes viral.
“Of the 67,000 accounts that were permanently closed, nearly 8,000 were deleted for spreading fake news, rumors and harmful information,” according to a CAC statement.
Another 930,000 accounts received less severe penalties, ranging from the removal of all followers to the suspension or cancellation of profit-making privileges.
In a separate campaign, regulators recently closed more than 100,000 accounts for allegedly misrepresenting news anchors and media agencies to fight the rise of AI-assisted online fake news coverage.
