Chinese Social Media Sina Weibo Fined by Chinese Regulators for Publishing Illegal Information

China’s cyberspace regulator recently summoned Chinese Twitter-like company, Sina Weibo, for talks concerning the repeated display of prohibited information and content on its platform that violated the laws and regulations of the country.

Sina Weibo’s operating entity has been slapped with a 3 million yuan ($470,000) fine by Beijing’s internet regulator as stated on the CAC’s official WeChat account. From January to November, 2021, Beijing authorities imposed 44 separate penalties on Sina Weibo, totaling 14.3 million yuan.

CAC stressed that the website platform should improve its information security management system, including information release audits, public information inspections and emergency response system.

In response to the penalty, Weibo, which is listed in Hong Kong, said “it sincerely accepts the criticism from the regulator and will earnestly implement the rectification requirements.” The company said it would focus on two main areas.

First, Weibo will promote the special treatment of soft pornography. Through manual and machine-assisted measures, Weibo is able to effectively identify and intercept soft pornographic information, and deal with such illegal accounts.

Secondly, Weibo will promote the special treatment of homogeneous malicious marketing. The company has formulated a Multi-Channel Network (MCN) operation management standard, in addition  to  defining and punishing click farming. The identification model of homogeneous malicious marketing actions has been launched which will further improve the efficiency of auditing and disposal.

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Earlier this month, the CAC ordered Chinese media review site Douban to immediately rectify and deal with serious breaches after the company repeatedly failed to conduct proper scrutiny over its content. The firm was fined 1.5 million yuan.