China's Internet Regulator Removes 1.4 Million Social Media Posts, This Is The Cause

, China telah menargetkan miliar akun media sosial. (foto: dok. pexels)

China's cyberspace space regulator, China's Cyberspace Space Administration (CAC), announced that as many as 1.4 million social media posts had been deleted after carrying out a two-month investigation into alleged misinformation dissemination, illegal fraud practices, and impersonating state officials, as well as other "significant issues".

In a statement on Friday, May 26, CAC said that from March 10 to May 22, as many as 67,000 social media accounts had been closed and hundreds of thousands of posts had been removed as part of a broader "improvement" campaign.

Since 2021, China has been targeting billions of social media accounts in an effort to "clean up" its cyberspace space and make it easier for authorities to control it.

The latest hard campaign is aimed at accounts on popular social media applications in China, including WeChat, Douyin, and Weibo, which fall into the "self media" category, namely accounts that publish news and information but are not managed by the government or get official approval.

Beijing often arrests its citizens and censors accounts that publish or share factual information deemed sensitive or critical against the Communist, government, or military Party, especially when the information goes viral.

Of the 67,000 accounts permanently closed, nearly 8,000 of them were closed due to "spreading fake news, rumors, and malicious information," according to CAC.

A total of 930.000 other accounts received lighter sentences, ranging from loss of followers to suspension or cancellation of rights to generate profits.

In a separate campaign, regulators recently closed more than 100,000 accounts suspected of imitating news carriers and media agencies to counter the spread of online fake news assisted by artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

On Friday, CAC said its latest campaign had targeted nearly 13,000 fake military accounts, with names such as "China's Red Army Command", "China Anti-Terror Forces," and "Strategic Missile Troops".

A total of 25,000 other accounts are targeted for imitating public institutions, such as centers for disease control and prevention as well as research institutions run by the state.

Nearly 187,000 accounts have been punished for imitating the news media business, while more than 430,000 accounts are suspected of offering professional advice or educational services without having relevant professional qualifications.