IP addresses are NOT logged in this forum so there's no point asking. Please note that this forum is full of homophobes, racists, lunatics, schizophrenics & absolute nut jobs with a smattering of geniuses, Chinese chauvinists, Moderate Muslims and last but not least a couple of "know-it-alls" constantly sprouting their dubious wisdom. If you believe that content generated by unsavory characters might cause you offense PLEASE LEAVE NOW! Sammyboy Admin and Staff are not responsible for your hurt feelings should you choose to read any of the content here. The OTHER forum is HERE so please stop asking.
WeChat's public instant-messaging accounts have became a popular venue for discussing political issues in recent months.
At least a dozen popular public WeChat accounts - some followed by hundreds of thousands subscribers - were shut down or suspended yesterday.
Some of the accounts were operated by popular columnists, such as Xu Danei and Luo Changping, or by online news outlets, such as NetEase. Xu's account alone had an estimated 200,000 subscribers.
WeChat's public instant-messaging accounts have became a popular venue for discussing political issues in recent months as more established online social networks, like Sina Weibo, lost subscribers. The China Internet Information Centre said 37 per cent of users who quit weibo last year started using WeChat, which is run by internet giant Tencent.
Industry insiders said the suspension order was handed down without giving a reason yesterday afternoon. Most of the accounts that were shut down were known for posting commentaries and articles on current affairs.
"No reason was given," and insider said. "Some of the accounts were shut permanently."
People who clicked on affected accounts were greeted with a pop-up message saying the account had been shut for violating regulations. It was unclear how long the block would last.
The suspended accounts include one called Daxianggonghui (The Union of Elephants) and the Zhenhua (Speaking Truth) Channel, a commentary account run by NetEase.
The shutdown came on the last day of the politically sensitive National People's Congress session, in which Premier Li Keqiang held his high-profile annual news conference.
It also came amid wide speculation that the Communist Party would announce the fate of retired security tsar Zhou Yongkang, who is believed to be detained on suspicion of graft.
An internet operator who did not want to be named said the momentum to tighten control of new media platforms - especially WeChat - has been building since Lu Wei, a former Xinhua executive and Beijing vice-mayor, assumed the post of director of the State Internet Information Office last year.
Online news outlet Caixin reported last month that Lu doubled as general office director of the party's new leading group on internet security, chaired by President Xi Jinping.
Censors were stationed for a week at the offices of Tencent's popular social media service WeChat before dozens of prominent accounts were closed or suspended, a source has said.
The move, on the closing day of the National People's Congress, marked an intensification of the internet crackdown under President Xi Jinping's leadership, observers said.
Internet users noticed on Thursday evening that at least 35 WeChat public accounts, many known for carrying commentaries on current affairs, were no longer available due to what a system message said was "violation of regulations".
A source told the South China Morning Post that a team of internet censors had been sent to WeChat's Guangzhou office, where they remained for about a week before the crackdown.
The Beijing-based industry insider, who asked not to be named, said the censors asked WeChat to conduct self-censorship in relation to popular public accounts that provided sensitive content on national politics, while they also named some accounts to be shut down.
"It might be related to some sensitive articles published by Tencent recently," the source said. "It feels like a punishment of Tencent, and we expect the censorship on WeChat will be stricter."
Zhang Lifan, a Beijing-based political affairs analyst, said: "Of course the shutdown is ordered from above.Tencent is a victim too."
Zhang said some account holders may have been tipped off about the crackdown, as he noticed they had stopped posting sensitive content two or three days ago.
"The closing day of important meetings seems to have become a regular time to clamp down on freedom of expression," said Zhang, whose WeChat public account, Sina Weibo account and blogs were shut in November on the day the party Central Committee's third plenum ended.
Another account holder affected is Xu Xin, a law professor at Beijing Technology University. Xu, who had more than 30,000 subscribers, said the move was unwarranted. His recent postings were only about films and law. "Which one of my article is sensitive? Which law did I violate? Who reported me? Why can't I appeal?" he asked.
Owners of affected accounts and their followers have been quick to turn to alternative platforms. Xu said he had since authorised Lawside, another WeChat public account to publish his articles "at [their] own risk".
Xu Danei , whose WeChat account, with an estimated 200,000 subscribers, was also shut, encouraged his followers to turn to a content-delivery app he had developed.
The South China Morning Post reported that foreign media were warned ahead of Premier Li Keqiang's press conference on Thursday not to raise the graft investigation into ex-security tsar Zhou Yongkang .
"The warning and the WeChat crackdown on the same day may be linked", Zhang said. "[The crackdown] is possibly a pre-emptive muting as part of a round of intensified censorship as the party prepares to make the announcement [of Zhou's fate]."
Tencent's investor relations director, Yuntao Huang, did not comment on the reasons for the crackdown.
