Censors close WeChat accounts for ‘spreading distorted historical information’
Over 130 accounts on the mobile phone messaging service shut down
PUBLISHED : Tuesday, 20 January, 2015, 11:43am
UPDATED : Tuesday, 20 January, 2015, 10:49pm
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Regulators alleged the WeChat accounts spread illegal and fabricated information. Photo: Reuters
China’s top internet regulator has closed over 130 accounts on the popular messaging app WeChat that “spread distorted historical information” about the governing Communist Party and the nation’s past.
The Cyberspace Administration said the accounts, which claimed to reveal little-known historical truths and secrets, blatantly spread illegal and fabricated information.
The authority said it acted on a tip-off and after the investigation it had closed down 133 accounts, including one called “This is not History”. The statement gave no further details about the rest of the accounts that were closed.
An unnamed official at the regulator said it would step up law enforcement on the internet and continue to follow up on tip-offs from the public.
The statement came after the regulator said mainland websites had deleted more than one billion pornographic and harmful posts last year as part of a clean-up of the internet.
Among the deleted posts, 220 million were on four leading gateway websites, Sina, Sohu, Tencent and NetEase. Two major search engines Baidu and Qihoo 360 deleted 130 million posts.
The authorities also shut down about 2,200 websites and 20 million online forums, blogs and social media accounts that had spread erotic and illegal content.
Lu Wei, a former Beijing propaganda chief who took up his current role as the regulator’s head in 2013, has repeatedly defended internet censorship in China, saying it is critical in preserving domestic stability.
Users of Microsoft’s Outlook email service were subject to a hacking attack over the weekend in China, weeks after Google’s Gmail system was blocked on the mainland, an online censorship watchdog said on Monday.
“If our accusation is correct, this new attack signals that the Chinese authorities are intent on further cracking down on communication methods that they cannot readily monitor,” GreatFire.org said on its website.
