Two social media platforms have reportedly closed 397 personal or so-called "we-media" accounts in the past few days in accordance with a self-regulation requirement of the Beijing Cyberspace Administration.
Tencent and yidianzixun.com closed 305 and 92 accounts, respectively, after meeting with the administration, according to notices posted on the agency's Wechat account on Monday.
"We-media" is known in China as online news sources run by individuals or small groups, often by non-professionals or on a part-time basis.
The agency met with executives from major Chinese websites, including Sohu, NetEase, Phoenix, Tencent, Baidu, toutiao.com and yidianzixun.com recently and ordered them to clean up their "we-media" accounts.
The clean-up drive focuses on content that "misinterprets government policies," "spreads false information," "distorts the history of the Party and the country," "have low taste and are morally unacceptable," "mislead readers with sensational headlines," "violate intellectual property rights," "spread distorted values," and "touch on people's bottom line or taboo subjects," read the agency's post.
Tencent's "we-media" platform posted the penalties on accounts on Friday, announcing it had shut down 198 accounts and banned 107 other accounts from new posts.
One typical post by a closed account reads, "former engineer from Area 51 reveals that 18 aliens have obtained U.S. Green Cards," the notice said.
"A few hundred accounts are still a small number compared to the total number of 'we-media' accounts out there. That's because anyone can apply for five such accounts with one single ID card," Wei Wuhui, a lecturer on the Internet and new media at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, told the Global Times.
"The clean-up of online platforms is a regular thing and should be strengthened," said Wei.
