China would not tolerate online “smearing” of businesses, the Communist Party’s mouthpiece said in a column, after the internet watchdog shut down a number of social media accounts over dissemination of false and misleading information concerning companies and entrepreneurs.
The online attacks on companies, many of which are privately owned, would eventually endanger employment and people’s livelihood, the People’s Daily said on Sunday, in reference to a crackdown on social media accounts by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC).
“China’s market is huge and can accommodate hundreds of millions of domestic and foreign business entities to compete fairly, but it cannot tolerate keyboard warriors who harm any company through distortion of facts and smearing,” the state-owned newspaper said in the column.
“The operation [by the CAC] focused on rectifying the chaos of the spread of misinformation involving enterprises to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of enterprises and entrepreneurs on the internet, further boosting corporate confidence, stabilising market expectations, and safeguarding high-quality economic development.”
In order to attract attention and traffic, they repeatedly released short videos, distorted and fabricated information
Confidence among China’s businesses remains weak, especially in the private sector, and policymakers in Beijing have pledged to champion its domestic companies and reassure entrepreneurs that the environment would improve, while equal treatment would also be given to all firms.
The CAC said on Saturday it had closed more than a dozen social media accounts on platforms including messaging and social media WeChat and short-video app Douyin.
One of the social media accounts, a consumer review blog called “Niu talks about cars”, was said to have “deliberately exaggerated and distorted facts to smear and defame companies and their founders”, according to the CAC statement.
“In order to attract attention and traffic, they repeatedly released short videos, distorted and fabricated information, and maliciously slandered the quality of a certain brand of cars and the image and reputation of the company and its founder,” the CAC statement added.
“The accounts involved have been closed in accordance with the law and contract.”
A search of “Niu talks about cars” on Douyin – the Chinese version of TikTok – found that the account, which had 5.4 million followers, had been blocked since Friday.
The closure of social media accounts came amid rising online blowback involving Chinese companies, some of which had ended up in court.
On May 20, Nongfu Spring, China’s largest bottled water producer, issued a statement in an effort to address a series of attack campaigns, saying the claims were unfounded and fabricated.
The claims had included criticisms for the perceived Japanese styling of its packaging, and speculation that its founder – China’s wealthiest individual, Zhong Shanshan – had emigrated to Japan.
In November, Shanghai-based electric car company Nio said it had won a case against Gu Yubo, the creator of “Niu talks about cars” over a number of claims, including defamation.
Nio said in a statement that it would continue to use legal means to defend its rights.
Since 2021, China’s internet censor has stepped up supervision of cyberspace and has closed down billions of social media accounts that it deemed to have “spread fake news, rumours, and harmful information”.
