China launches Piyao platform to crack down on online ‘rumours’
Mobile app run by state news agency will broadcast news from state-controlled media and raise risk of prison terms for ‘rumours’ posted on social media
China has launched a platform, which includes a mobile app, that lets the public report “online rumours” and even uses artificial intelligence to identify reports that are deemed false, as Beijing cracks down on what it views as socially destabilising content.
The platform, launched on Wednesday, came as Beijing steps up efforts to police the internet, especially social media used by people to discuss politics and other sensitive subjects despite stringent censorship.
Besides a website, the platform Piyao – which means “refuting rumours” – also has a mobile app and social media accounts with social media giants Weibo and WeChat.
Via those channels, Piyao will broadcast “real” news, sourcing reports from state-owned media, party-controlled local newspapers and various government agencies.
“Rumours violate individual rights; rumours create social panic; rumours cause fluctuations in the stock markets; rumours impact normal business operations; rumours blatantly attack revolutionary martyrs,” Piyao stated in a promotional video of the launch on its website.
According to official data, internet regulators received 6.7 million reports of illegal and false information in July, with most of the cases coming from Sina (which owns Weibo), Tencent (which owns WeChat), Baidu and Alibaba.