Chinese social media accounts are profiting by hinting at the downfall of corrupt officials ahead of formal announcements, state media has warned, highlighting a “grey market” around Beijing’s anti-corruption campaign.
The trend had created a new challenge for Chinese law enforcement, state-run journal Banyuetan reported on Friday.
One tactic involves posting an official’s resume as a coded signal that they are under disciplinary investigation, according to Banyuetan, which is affiliated with state news agency Xinhua.
It cited a case from a year ago involving Zhou Xianwang – a former senior official from Hubei province.
On July 6 last year, a private social media account published Zhou’s detailed career history. Just two days later, China’s top anti-corruption watchdog announced that he was under investigation.
The sequence of events was far from coincidental or isolated, Banyuetan noted, but rather part of a lucrative grey market where leaked information is circulated and monetised through online networks.