China's top social media platforms under investigation

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Chinese social media platforms Baidu, Tencent and Weibo have officially responded to an investigation into suspected violations of cyber-security laws and failure to comply with laws which ban violent and obscene content.

The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said on Friday it was investigating Tencent's WeChat, Sina's Weibo and Baidu's Reddit-like forum Tieba over suspected violations of cyber-security laws.

According to the administration's website, "some users spread violence, terror, false rumors, pornography and other hazards to national security, public safety and social order".

The three social media giants apologized to their users for their negative online experiences and said they will support the official investigation.

Baidu search engine seen on a smartphone screen. /AFP Photo

Baidu said it will put more efforts into its censorship of harmful information, while Tencent noted that its WeChat team has taken measures to prevent information that contains violence, terror, rumors and pornography. Meanwhile Weibo announced that a technology upgrade and manual precautions will be used to curb content that fails to comply with laws.

As one of China's most popular social media platforms, Weibo, was ordered to partially close its video site over violations, wiping out a combined 1.3 billion US dollars worth of stock between Weibo and parent firm Sina Corp.

Tencent's WeChat app seen on a smartphone screen. /AFP Photo

Sina's Weibo app seen on a smartphone screen. /AFP Photo

According to CAC policy, information includes "harmed national security... harmed the nation's honor or interest...damaged the nation's religious policies...spread rumors...disturbed public order... and intentionally using character combinations to avoid censorship" are banned.

WeChat and Weibo have about 940 million and 350 million monthly active users respectively, according to official data.

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