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China's WeChat Blocked 500Mln Posts With Unsupported Claims in 2017 - Report

BEIJING (Sputnik) - WeChat, China's largest online social network with nearly one billion users, blocked about 500 million posts containing unverified information in 2017, a report prepared by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT) of the Chinese Industry and Information Technology Ministry said on Monday.
Sputnik

"Over 800 third party competent agencies have joined the fight against rumors to date. They have prevented rumors from spreading over 500 million times, published about 40 lists of rumors… and held accountable over 180,000 official accounts," the report said.

According to the report, over 19.7 million users have used a special application developed by WeChat's creators that is designed to discredit rumors that appear on the social network.

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In November, the Beijing police detained an individual who used the social network to spread fake news about the military's involvement in a child molestation case at a Beijing pre-school. The rumormonger later admitted to having fabricated the information.

The Chinese authorities recently adopted a series of documents instructing Chinese Internet companies and media to monitor the credibility of information being spread on the web.

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