According to the official Xinhua News Agency, the Chinese government has launched a crackdown on individuals who have been spreading rumors and other information related to terrorism, violence and pornography on Tuesday. The mainland would reportedly target public accounts on mobile messaging services like WeChat.
The latest move by China is another measure to restrict online freedom of expression already limited in the country in several forms like in search engines. On the other hand, the Chinese government has dubbed the rumors that spread on social media as an infiltration of hostile forces that threaten the Communist Party.
The Associated Press noted that anyone can subscribe to feeds from public accounts without exchanging direct greetings first as compared with that of private ones. The move might have been spurred from worry by the Chinese government of comments and reports by intellectuals, journalists and activists regarding politics, law and society that are usually policed or shunned by mainstream media. The comments and reports are often posted in accounts that could easily attract hundreds of thousands of followers, the news wire agency said.
When AP contacted Tencent Holdings Ltd, who currently runs WeChat, and other companies who are also subject in the crackdown, they have yet to receive calls or emailed requests.
Managing director Mark Natkin of Beijing-based internet and mobile research company Marbridge Consulting said that the crackdown is the first major campaign covering mobile messaging platforms by China. He added that the campaign could have been the Chinese government's response to the deadly attacks that occurred in the western region of Xinjiang, the indictment of Chinese military officers on economic spying charges by the US government, or President Xi Jinping's continuing campaign against corruption.
"Anytime we see a tenser environment on fronts like those, there tends to be a corresponding clampdown on various communications tools," he stated.
