Concept photo of internet finance Illustration: VCG

China's Twitter-like social media platform Sina Weibo said on Wednesday that it had suspended 52 financial self-media accounts that were found to be in violation of regulations, as part of its rectification efforts under the country's crackdown campaign against illegal activities by social media accounts focusing on financial information.

The 52 accounts, which is said to be the first batch, included two accounts that had more than 1 million followers, and 25 accounts with 100,000 to 1 million followers, Sina Weibo said.

Top Chinese social media platforms WeChat, Douyin, Kuaishou and Sina Weibo said over the weekend that they would start the rectification of illegal activities involving publishing financial information on their platforms, in line with the top Chinese cyberspace regulator's latest crackdown on violations by financial self-media accounts.

Sina Weibo said that it will severely punish accounts that are in violation of relevant rules and keep the public updated on the process in a timely manner, and it will actively guide the construction of a healthy and orderly internet environment.

The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said in a notice on Friday that financial self-media accounts that are engaged in illegal activities would be banned. 

As part of the effort, self-media accounts that distort China's financial policy and macroeconomic data, badmouth China's financial market and economy, spread rumored "insider information," maliciously hype speculation in the stock and housing markets, and publish financial columns that are supposedly written by government insiders or scholars will be punished.

The crackdown on illegal financial media accounts is part of a campaign by the CAC to maintain a clean internet environment and address major issues of public concern related to online violations. The campaign also covers illegal activities in the cultural and entertainment sectors, with enhanced rectification measures targeting the "fan circle" culture.

Separately, Chinese securities regulators and police have also been ramping up a crackdown campaign on self-media operators' illegal activities in the securities market.

The local securities regulatory body in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province, announced on Wednesday that it had successfully handled a major case of manipulation of the securities market with local police. 

The main culprit in the case, with the self-media name "Niu San", colluded with multiple criminal groups through several intermediaries and used live chat rooms and WeChat groups to trick investors into buying more than 70 stocks at high prices from November 2019 to June 2021.

Earlier, an individual named Huang, who is said be to an influential financial blogger, a shareholder of online peer-to-peer lending platform Xitouwang, was arrested by the police on August 18, after the platform was suspected of illegally taking public deposits, the Futian branch of the Shenzhen Public Security Bureau said in an announcement on Saturday. Xitouwang owes 662 million yuan ($102.3 million) to 5,635 people.

Global Times