China shuts objectionable accounts on Wechat

China's Cyberspace Administration announced on Tuesday that it has shut down 17 accounts on instant messaging platform WeChat over the past two months.

The move targeted mass-publication accounts as opposed to those used for personal communications. Some accounts that were closed masqueraded as public organizations or media groups, such as The People's Daily and inspection groups of the Communist Party of China Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI).

Others were closed for publishing political news without permits, selling counterfeit invoices and spreading information about gambling and guns.

The administration also closed 24 websites and 9 channels or columns on websites which were spreading lewd or pornographic content.

In 2015, we will release blacklists of websites that break the rules on a regular basis to protect Internet users' rights and the orderly flow of information on the Internet, said Jiang Jun, spokesman for the administration.

Data from the China Internet Illegal Information Reporting Center showed that it handled more than 1 million tip-offs in 2014, most of which are related to pornographic content. The administration confirmed that it would welcome tip-offs from the public as usual.