China has launched an extensive campaign to combat the growing menace of fake news, misleading information, and false claims swirling on social media, which undermine the country’s reputation and project it in a poor light.

The Chinese internet authorities are taking down social media accounts that falsely ‘hype’ the country’s military by spreading misleading information, such as fabricated claims of “cyber-warfare” in the South China Sea.

The report is based on an assessment made by the Cyberspace Administration of China, whose findings were published on October 28 and reported by SCMP.

The report mentioned a few cases, including a June report on Chinese social media Douyin that read: “Breaking news: China and the US engaged in 12 hours of cyber warfare, causing Luzon Island in the Philippines to lose all GPS, communication, and phone signals!”

Incidentally, this comes days after the US alleged that a Chinese hacking network called ‘Volt Typhoon’ had compromised several internet-connected devices. China has refuted the claims, producing evidence to prove that the US accusations are false and amount to a disinformation campaign.

The report further mentioned another post on Chinese social media from July that included a video providing a detailed description of how China outperformed the US in their rivalry because of a technological advancement made by telecom behemoth Huawei, which allegedly improved China’s radars.

Notably, some experts in China have noted that Huawei has been caught in the crosshairs due to the US-China rivalry. US officials have long maintained that Huawei is a national security threat as its equipment could be used by the Chinese government for spying.

Furthermore, CAC said in the report that the posts were quickly recognized as rumors and taken down. It said that the accounts in question created “military fantasy stories” to feel fulfilled and satisfied.

Additionally, the article claims that several accounts have recently been deleted by military and local government authorities for “speculating and fabricating false information, misleading the public, and distorting the image of military personnel. “

The article named two WeChat accounts that erroneously claimed China had sunk four foreign ships and claimed that several of the accounts had been spreading rumors about the military and made-up information about history.

In fact, the report stated that some social media profiles were deleted for “engaging in historical nihilism,” a word that typically refers to contemporary narratives that deviate from the official view of history.

For instance, a Chinese question-and-answer app had a post that read: “Japanese soldiers killed by guerilla warfare on the Chinese battlefield were only a small portion of the entire army.”

The regulator further noted that some other accounts were deleted for misrepresenting the People’s Liberation Army’s policy and image. According to a Douyin story, for instance, a guy joined the PLA despite his family’s disapproval, and after a few years, “all his mother got to see was his ash box.”

The regulator announced that it was inappropriate for internet retailers to use the military as a pretext to entice customers to purchase their goods. According to the report, some accounts on Alibaba’s Taobao and Xianyu, two of China’s largest e-commerce sites and the owners of the South China Morning Post, have been using PLA insignia or asserting that certain products have “special supply in the military.”

Chinese authorities do not tolerate the dissemination of unverified or unfavorable information concerning the military. Asking the Chinese people to report any such posts in the future, the regulator stated: “We will continue to crack down on illegal actions of social media accounts in military-related news, investigate and punish account owners who publish and hype false information, and expose typical cases.”

The move to suspend accounts is likely to cast further aspersion on ‘free speech’ in China. Several international organizations have alleged that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) uses its blanket control over all Chinese social media companies for censorship. The claims are, however, routinely denied these claims.

China’s Unwavering Fight Against Fake News 

Last year, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) launched a concerted campaign to clean up online news dissemination, with a special focus on social media accounts that spread “fake news” and mimic state-run media. In about a month, it shut down more than 100,000 accounts for misrepresenting news anchors and media agencies.

At the time, the CAC said the identified fake news typically covered hot topics such as social incidents and international current affairs. “(The CAC) will guide online platforms … to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the majority of internet users to obtain authoritative and real news,” the regulator said. A similar pattern has been observed in the fake news cited by the latest CAC report.

Intensifying efforts to eradicate fake news earlier this month, the Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission announced the start of a three-month campaign to correct illegal online news information services to regulate internet news services, improve the legitimacy of Chinese mainstream media, and create a healthier online environment, as reported by Chinese state-owned publication Global Times.

This campaign will reportedly focus on five main areas of concern, such as the dissemination of inaccurate or misleading information, which includes inventing or distorting news content, making dramatic headlines, or misleadingly editing images and videos to mislead the audience. The other issue, it stated, is the misuse of media oversight, whereby certain platforms manipulated search results or demanded money or favors from people and businesses through the creation, publication, and removal of news.  

During the campaign, there will also be a crackdown on impersonating trustworthy news sources, using unapproved online news services, and faking or abusing news credentials, including the unlawful trading or transfer of internet news service licenses.   

A representative for the cyberspace watchdog stressed that to guarantee the campaign’s execution, local cybersecurity agencies need to increase their political consciousness and fortify the campaign’s leadership. The representative also emphasized that the entity’s name and license number must be displayed on all online platforms, public accounts, applications, and live broadcasts that offer online news services.   

Additionally, platforms are encouraged to enhance their recommendation and algorithm models to prioritize high-quality content from verified news accounts. There should be more avenues for reporting illicit activity, and investigations into such reports should be swiftly carried out, with the results of most cases made public.

The office released a plan earlier in March that outlined their key tasks for 2024, including addressing local content issues in city-specific sections of the internet, standardizing online language use, and ensuring proper labeling to target increased regulation in AI-generated and synthesized content.

It is safe to say that despite being frequently accused of peddling fake narratives and disinformation campaigns by its rivals, China remains determined to fight fake news at home.

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