China blocks more than 8,000 social media accounts in latest ‘clean up’ campaign

Internet censor is cracking down on false and misleading information about companies and entrepreneurs
Among the accounts shut down were several that had taken aim at the country’s home-grown passenger jet

China’s internet censorship

Xinlu Liang

Published: 5:03pm, 1 Aug 2023

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China’s internet censor has blocked more than 8,000 social media accounts it says violated the rights of businesses, including “smearing” the country’s first domestically produced passenger jet.

The Cyberspace Administration of China is targeting the dissemination of false and misleading information about companies and entrepreneurs in its latest “clean up” campaign.

“Some accounts have been fabricating facts, spreading false news reports, maliciously associating negative industry information with certain companies or making up enterprise-related rumours under the disguise of ‘patriotism’,” the CAC said in a post on its WeChat account on Tuesday.

It did not give details but nationalist voices have grown louder on Chinese social media in recent years, with some zeroing in on companies. Blogger Sima Nan’s attack on Lenovo over its sale of state assets, high executive pay and foreign executives is one recent example.

The internet regulator said it had asked relevant websites and social media platforms – including WeChat, Weibo and Douyin – to take responsibility for content management, upgrade their censorship systems, handle complaints, and prevent the spread of rumours.

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Why it took China’s home-grown C919 plane 15 years to start flying passengers

It comes as Beijing is seeking to reassure the private sector after regulatory shocks and amid a slower than expected recovery from the pandemic. The government last month unveiled an action plan to support private firms, vowing to create a favourable environment for entrepreneurship.

Among the accounts shut down by the regulator were several that had taken aim at the C919, China’s home-grown, narrow-body passenger jet, the CAC said, without elaborating.

Built by the state-owned Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China, the jet is intended to compete with the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320. Its first commercial flight was in May.

But the C919 has become entangled in the tech war and rivalry between China and the US that has seen the Chinese aviation industry facing more export control restrictions. Most of the C919 parts are imported, including the engine, avionics, control systems, communications and landing gear.

The CAC said some of the accounts it shut down had gathered negative information about companies or fabricated news about the private lives of entrepreneurs to make a profit. It said others had run “illegal news services” using fake press releases or posts to blackmail companies. In China, just a small number of organisations have the permits required to produce and disseminate news online.

Some accounts used fake branding or logos to mislead the public, infringing on the rights and interests of the companies, according to the regulator.

It said more than 86,000 posts containing false information related to companies had been taken down and 8,425 accounts were blocked in the campaign so far.

The CAC said issues deemed to undermine the online business environment would be in the cross hairs next, with websites encouraged to broaden their complaints systems. The regulator will tighten control of problematic online platforms and accounts to “create a favourable online business environment for enterprises to concentrate on their business and development”.