WeChat steps up crackdown on copycat official accounts

GUANGZHOU - Chinese popular social media platform WeChat has stepped up crackdown on copycat official accounts in a move to fight online frauds and fake information.

The platform has handled some 45,000 copycat official accounts so far this year.

Over 36 percent of these fake official accounts involve fraudulent content, while 25 percent of them pretend to offer high investment earnings.

Rolled out by Tencent in 2011, WeChat boasted about 1.13 billion monthly active users by the end of June, attracting enterprises, government agencies and public institutions to open official accounts on the platform to enhance interaction with users.

China's internet regulators have urged online social media platforms to fight illegal and misleading information as more and more people use these platforms on a daily basis.