Weibo, Sina shares reeling

BEIJING: With an official edict barely longer than a tweet, China’s media regulator shaved about US$1 billion (RM4.29 billion) off the value of Sina Corp and Weibo Corp, the two companies that run the country’s version of Twitter.

On Thursday night, the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television ordered services, including Weibo, to stop broadcasting what it said was negative commentary in violation of government regulations. While the regulator didn’t say in its one-line statement what precise actions should or would be taken, it was enough to send Weibo’s stock sliding 6.1 per cent in New York on Thursday. Sina slid almost five per cent.

The regulatory ban, the latest in a series of attempts to curb content on the Internet, could disrupt a revival for Weibo that’s now under way. The messaging service turned to video streaming over the past year to rejuvenate growth and has since reignited user interest, pushing its monthly audience to 340 million people — surpassing Twitter’s — and its market value above US$16 billion. Chairman Charles Chao is now focused on expanding Weibo into areas including news aggregation and live video streaming.

Weibo, AcFun and Ifeng.com are “broadcasting large amounts of programming that don’t meet national standards and which propagate negative opinions on public affairs”, said the national broadcasting regulator in a statement posted on its website. “We’re taking measures to halt the programmes and begin rectification.” Bloomberg