Weibo Closes Social Media Accounts for Investment Fraud

Chinese tech giants are stepping up their own content-filtering efforts with Weibo leading the pack by shutting down 37 accounts for investment-related fraud.

According to a statement by Weibo owner Sina, the accounts were closed due to content issues regarding «misleading investment information» or «securities fraud».

The accounts seduce customers into purchasing illegal wealth management products and commit fraud by posting fake investment information, the statement said. Weibo will continue to crackdown on the illegal accounts and also welcomes users to report if any misleading information is found.

Chinese regulators have been pushing social media platforms to self-censor content with a focus on combating illegal or misleading information such as investment-related fraud.

In September, WeChat issued a statement claiming it had suspended or closed 45,000 accounts year-to-date for similar issues. The firm claimed that more than 36 percent of closed accounts involved fraudulent content and 25 percent involved false claims of high investment returns.