China Shuts Down Over 1 246eb 00,000 Fake News Social Media s, Ramps Up Content Cleanup

The Cyberspace istration of China (CAC) launched a special campaign to clean up online information. 1y49d

By Reuters | Updated: 17 May 2023 14:11 IST

China Shuts Down Over 1,00,000 Fake News Social Media s, Ramps Up Content Cleanup

Photo Credit: Reuters 3v6d2p

CAC vowed to crack down on malicious online comments

Highlights

News dissemination on Chinese social media is heavily controlled
Fake news identified covered social incidents, international affairs
China arrested a man for allegedly using AI to make a fake story

ment

China has intensified efforts to clean up the internet from false news and rumours, closing more than 100,000 online s over the past month that misrepresented news anchors and media agencies, its cyberspace regulator said.

The Cyberspace istration of China (CAC) launched a special campaign to clean up online information, focusing on social media s that disseminate "fake news" and impersonate state-controlled media.

The regulator said it had wiped 107,000 s of counterfeit news units and news anchors and 835,000 pieces of fake news information since April 6.

Zoom Invests in Anthropic; Will Integrate AI in Its Video Conferencing App

The cleanup comes as China and countries across the globe grapple with an onslaught of fake news coverage online, with many implementing laws to punish culprits.

News dissemination on Chinese social media, however, is already heavily controlled, with platforms like the Weibo favouring topic hashtags produced by state media, while censoring hashtags on issues or incidents considered sensitive by Beijing, even if they go viral.

The CAC said its review found s that had disguised themselves as authoritative news media by falsifying news studio scenes and imitating professional news presenters, using artificial intelligence (AI) to create anchors to mislead the public.

Ex Apple Employee Charged for Alleged Theft of Technology, Fleeing to China

Fake news identified covered hot topics such as social incidents and international current affairs, according to a statement the CAC posted on Monday on its website.

"(The CAC) will guide online platforms ... to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the majority of internet s to obtain authoritative and real news," the regulator said, adding it encouraged s to provide leads on counterfeit news and anchors.

China's government has regularly ordered sweeping measures to scrub the internet of material and language it deemed inappropriate, offensive and a threat to the public and businesses.

Google Will Begin Deleting Inactive s Starting December: Here’s Why

Recently, the CAC vowed to crack down on malicious online comments that damage the reputation of businesses and entrepreneurs.

Nascent generative ChatGPT has introduced another layer of caution. China recently arrested a man in Gansu province for allegedly using ChatGPT to generate a fake story about a train crash.

OnePlus recently launched its first tablet in India, the OnePlus Pad, which is only sold in a Halo Green colour option. With this tablet, OnePlus has stepped into a new territory that's dominated by Apple's iPad. We discuss this and more on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Comments

For the latest reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.