China shuts down 31 websites temporarily as crackdown on 'rumour mongers' continues
Sources say new moves have targeted only sites containing 'political rumours', while unnamed official blames people for spreading 'maliciously fabricated and circulated rumours'
A total of 31 websites have been temporarily shut down by the mainland’s internet regulators in the latest crackdown against “rumour mongers”.
Xinhuanet.com, the state-run website of Xinhua, reported that the affected sites include an online game forum and two online bulletin boards – known as BBS – one based in Guangdong and the other in Hebei province.
Also shut down was the Beijing-based website for zhiqing or “sent-down youth” generations – the Cultural Revolution campaign that saw millions of young city dwellers sent to the hinterlands to be “re-educated by the peasants”.
The services of a Beijing-based mobile phone app for aggregating information – mostly news and forum posts – have been suspended, too, for seven days as a punishment, xinhaunet.com said.
[Some people] maliciously fabricated and circulated rumours, and these claims are seriously inaccurate ...
This is not the first time internet regulators have targeted websites, but until now police have detained dozens for individuals and shut down websites that have circulated pornographic content.