China shuts 13,000 social media accounts for promoting crypto investment

The Chinese government has been cracking down on crypto-related activities, including discussions and the promotion of cryptocurrency online in a new campaign to ban the trading of digital assets since last September. 

To support the government’s efforts China’s internet regulator, Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) announced that it had shut down nearly 13,000 crypto-related social media accounts, deleted 51,000 related posts and closed 105 websites on Tuesday. 

According to the CAC, the accounts that were shut down were ‘guiding’ social media users to invest in cryptocurrencies ‘in the name of financial innovation and blockchain’ which may lead to speculation and fraud.

The purged social media accounts spanned across multiple leading platforms, including Weibo, Baidu, Tencent Holdings' and WeChat.

Meanwhile, the closed websites were closed down due to ‘hyping’ cryptocurrencies and running tutorials on buying, selling and mining the digital assets, according to the regulator.

The CAC also explained the account-deletion campaign was carried out in accordance with decisions made by China’s Communist Party. The regulator also said it would continue in its efforts to deter crypto-related activities as per the government’s request.