Beijing cyberspace watchdog ‘orders news arms of major portals to close’
Sohu, Sina and Netease among those targeted in crackdown, sources say
The cyberspace administration in Beijing is widening its crackdown on online news, with plans to shut seven web-based channels, sources say.
The move comes after the watchdog criticised Tencent and Ifeng.com for headline errors and inaccurate stories last week.
The channels targeted by Beijing Cyberspace Administration in the latest round are produced by four major news portals, two sources said. They are
Sohu.com’s Firsthand News, Curvature and Today’s Click; Sina.com’s Extreme Instant;
Netease’s Echo and Guidepost and Ifeng’s Solemn Report.
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Sources have also confirmed the live news broadcast channel operated by Sina and Netease’s News Academy had been ordered to remove all content related to political and current affairs.
Online news portals have been moving away from summarising newspaper stories in recent years to producing original content. They appeared to enjoy greater flexibility in what they were allowed to report compared to traditional media, a freedom that lured talented journalists.
Bold reports would sometimes appear, including in-depth political analysis that the propaganda authorities would not have allowed in other media.
But the relatively permissive atmosphere appears to be changing. President Xi Jinping earlier this year toured the offices of People’s Daily, CCTV and Xinhua, urging them to show absolute loyalty to the Communist Party and reflect its mission in their reporting.
Last week, Tencent was disciplined after it ran a headline referring to Xi giving “an important speech in a furious manner”.
Chinese internet giant Tencent disciplined over ‘furious’ Xi headline error
Sources said two editors, including the editor-in-chief of Tencent’s online news department, Wang Yongzhi, faced pressure to step down.
The cyberspace governing authority for Tencent’s online news was also asked to be switched from Shenzhen to Beijing.
Meanwhile, Ifeng.com came under fire for what authorities said were inaccurate reports and misleading headlines.
Last week, Ifeng.com was accused by a spokesman of the administration of making a number of major blunders in reporting, including publishing fake stories and misleading headlines that had an adverse impact on society.
