Strict monitor of previously banned online accounts urged

China’s cyber authorities have vowed to thoroughly crack down on previously closed self-media accounts that resurfaced on another platform, stressing a thorough clean-up of self-media that publishes pornographic, rumor-based and malicious content.

The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) met with media platforms, including Baidu, Tecent, Sina and Jinri Toutiao, on Wednesday, urging them to regulate self-media on their platforms, remove those who publish pornographic, rumor-based and malicious content.

The CAC said that following the start of an internet purification campaign on Monday, some media accounts, which were closed or regulated during the campaign, resurfaced on other media platforms and continue to publish illegal content.

Platforms should work to complete a blacklist and prevent these accounts from reappearing.

Guanai Bagua Chengzhang Hui, a WeChat self-media account which provides celebrity gossip, was closed in July 2017 and reappeared under a different name in Huihuo three months later. It has published 531 articles ever since.

“These platforms are responsible for the chaos caused by self-media. They should better scrutinize these accounts and work together to make sure they will be banned forever,” Wang Sixin, a professor at the Communication University of China in Beijing, told the Global Times on Friday.

Echoing the CAC’s announcement, WeChat announced on Friday that it reduced the cap on individual self-media applicants to one from two, and for companies from five to two.