China’s cyber watchdog said that they had deleted more than 7 million pieces of online information in addition to as many as 9,382 mobile apps, and went on to criticize the giant Tencent’s news app since they were responsible in spreading “vulgar information”.
The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), in a statement on their website, said that the action has been a part of their clean-up to eradicate unacceptable and harmful information which started this month, and they also added that they shut down 733 websites.
The administration said that Tencent’s Tiantian Kuaibao news app had been ordered to make certain changes to the app since it has been responsible in spreading “vulgar and low-brow information which could be harmful and damage the Internet ecosystem.“
Tencent didn’t respond to any questions and declined to comment on this matter.
The regulator also criticized Huaban, which is a photo-sharing social network, and said they had “serious ecosystem problems”. On the other hand, on their website, Huaban said that their online service had been temporarily taken down for upgrades.
Control of the Internet has been tightened under the President Xi Jinping and this is an effort which has been accelerated since the year 2016 since the ruling Communist Party sought to crack down the booming social media landscape.
In November, the CAC scrubbed off more than 9,800 social media accounts which had been providing independent news since they violated rules which included the spread of politically harmful information and projecting false history of the Communist Party.
