Chinese Twitter-like Weibo punished for overlooking pornographic content

BEIJING - Chinese Twitter-like social media platform Weibo received administrative punishment for failing to block the dissemination of pornographic and vulgar content on its platform, China's anti-pornography watchdog said on Friday.

According to an investigation organized by the National Office for the Fight Against Pornography and Illegal Publications, multiple registered Weibo users posted materials that contain pornographic content on the platform between December 2018 and December 2020.

The operator of Weibo, a Beijing-based Internet company, was given administrative punishment on Jan 4 for failing to deal with such posts on the platform properly.

Over the past year, China cracked six criminal cases of disseminating pornographic and illegal information on Weibo, according to the office.

The office urged Internet companies to take their due responsibilities. "Any websites or platforms that act as 'accomplices' of disseminators of illegal information online will be held accountable," said the office.