Following a two-month investigation into purported misinformation, unlawful profiteering, and impersonation of state officials, among other “pronounced problems,” China’s cyberspace regulator stated that 1.4 million social media posts had been expunged.
As part of a larger “rectification” campaign, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) announced in a statement on Friday that it had closed 67,000 social media accounts and purged hundreds of thousands of posts between March 10 and May 22.
China has targeted billions of social media accounts since 2021 in an effort to “clean” its cyberspace and make it simpler to control.
The most recent crackdown targeted accounts on popular Chinese social media apps such as WeChat, Douyin, and Weibo that fall under the category of “self-media,” which refers to accounts that publish news and information but are not government-run or state-approved.
Beijing frequently arrests citizens and censors social media accounts for publishing or sharing factual information deemed confidential or critical of the Communist Party, the government, or the military, particularly when such information goes viral.
According to CAC, nearly 8,000 of the 67,000 permanently deleted accounts were for “spreading fake news, rumors, and harmful information.”
A total of approximately 930,000 accounts received less severe sanctions, ranging from the removal of all followers to the suspension or cancellation of profit-making privileges.
In a separate effort to combat the rise of online false news coverage facilitated by AI technologies, the regulator recently closed over one hundred thousand accounts that allegedly misrepresented news anchors and media outlets.
The CAC announced on Friday that its most recent campaign targeted nearly 13,000 fake military accounts with names like “Chinese Red Army Command,” “Chinese Anti-Terrorist Force,” and “Strategic Missile Force.”
Approximately 25,000 additional accounts were targeted for misrepresenting government institutions, such as disease and prevention control centers and state-run research institutes.
Nearly 187,000 were sanctioned for impersonating news media organizations, while over 430,000 allegedly offered professional advice or educational services without the necessary credentials.
Approximately 45,000 accounts were terminated due to “hyping hot issues, clout-chasing, and illegal monetization.”
The regulator stated that it had “actively coordinated with public security, market supervision, and other departments in order to deliver a heavy blow and correct illegal self-media.”
“At the same time, (we) also call on the vast majority of netizens to actively participate in monitoring and reporting (illegal self-media), provide clues… and jointly maintain clean cyberspace,” the statement continued.
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