China’s Cyberspace Administration (CAC) has initiated a comprehensive effort to prevent the spread of fake news and online impersonation. According to an official statement, the regulator has shut down over 100,000 internet accounts in the last month for misrepresenting news anchors and media outlets.
The CAC’s special project attempts to clean up internet material, with a particular emphasis on social media accounts that spread false information and imitate state-controlled media institutions. Since April 6, a total of 107,000 accounts impersonating news units and anchors, as well as 835,000 items of false news, have been deleted.
The CAC uncovered accounts that had masqueraded as authoritative news media by faking news studio scenes and impersonating professional news presenters throughout the evaluation process. Artificial intelligence (AI) was also used, with AI-generated anchors deceiving the audience.
During the cleaning, bogus news was discovered on a variety of themes, including social issues and worldwide current events. The CAC encourages online platforms to take a role in protecting the majority of internet users’ right to receive authoritative and authentic news. The regulator urges users to report cases of fake news and impersonation in order to build a more trustworthy online information environment.
The sources for this piece include an article in Reuters.