In just 3 months, China’s internet censor has closed over 4,000 websites and removed 55 apps
- Cyberspace Administration of China bans a dozen personal media platforms using names similar to state media or major news portals
- In the second quarter it will mobilise provincial and prefecture-level cyberspace enforcement teams to supervise and inspect
China’s internet watchdog shut down more than 4,200 sites and removed 55 apps from app stores for various breaches, including providing unauthorised news services, in the first quarter of the year alone.
The Cyberspace Administration of China said in a statement on Sunday it had also summoned people in charge of more than 2,200 websites and told them to rectify their content.
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Beijing has tightened its control of the internet in the past few years because it wants to limit the influence of Western ideologies as it faces heightened tension with the United States and its allies.
The cyberspace administration said these service providers failed to supervise information posted by their users, resulting in the online spread of “harmful information”, such as pornography, superstitions, prostitution, gambling and illegal lending.
It said some functions on these platforms had been restricted because local cyberspace regulators had asked them to immediately rectify their actions.
