When it comes to censorship and control over their information coming in and out of their country, China has never been shy or particularly diplomatic about their choices. Recently China has been reported to be reconsidering the use of IBM servers in their banks and have even banned the installation of Windows 8 on government computers, which is why the country’s latest move hardly comes as a surprise.
According to reports, China has begun to target popular instant-messaging smartphone apps. This attempt by the government is to help curb rumors and “infiltration of hostile forces” that are spreading in the country. Because some of these accounts are a bit like Twitter and Facebook, where individuals such as intellectuals, journalists, and activists can follow, we guess the government is worried about information making its way around the country and into international headlines as well.
The official Xinhua New Agency has stated that the crackdown on accounts accused of spreading rumors and information regarding violence, terrorism, and pornography kicked off Tuesday, and will be targeting public accounts, such as those hosted by WeChat, one of China’s more popular instant messaging apps that have begun to spread throughout the Asian region as well.
In the past we have seen how the Chinese government has tried to restrict outside influence. This has led to the ban of Western services such as Google, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. Instead China has their own local alternatives, like Alibaba, Weibo, Youku, and so on.