Chinese Ministry of State Security

China’s security authority, a once mysterious department has become increasingly familiar to the public since last year, with several social media accounts attempting to borrow its halo to earn internet flow. The Ministry of State Security (MSS) sent a warning against such acts on Wednesday.

“A very small number of individuals in social media accounts impersonate official national security agencies on social media platforms to attract traffic, causing certain negative impacts,” the MSS wrote on its official WeChat account.

In response, it said the MSS promptly took legal measures to address and correct the wrongful behavior of those impersonating national security social accounts, ensuring the authority and credibility of the official social media accounts of the national security agency.

The MSS is a ministry under the State Council responsible for counter-espionage and political security. It has become increasingly familiar to the public since it launched an official WeChat public account on August 1 last year, which is the sole and only official new media platform of the national security agency.

It noted that some social media accounts with names such as “national security,” “national security for the country,” “12339 national security hotline,” and “national security publicity commissioner” were caught impersonating the national security agency, deliberately using names and official logos related to the national security agency, and publishing related content to attract attention and mislead netizens, the MSS wrote.

Among them, a video account named “national security” on a short video platform has been continuously reposting information related to the national security agency, and in interactions with netizens, claiming to be a “national security official.”

Following verification, it was found that the account was operated by Zhang, a fan for the national security agency. She started to repost and edit related content on her personal short video account since the official Weibo account of the ministry was first launched. 

Considering that her online activities did not cause serious harm, the national security agency issued a warning to Zhang. She voluntarily deleted hundreds of short videos related to the national security agency on the account.

The MSS warned that the cyberspace is not a lawless place. National security agencies remind the general public to stay vigilant, not easily believe unverified information and guard against false information. 

Global Times