China shuts down 133 accounts in WeChat for distorting history of Communist Party

BEIJING: China has shut down 133 accounts on its hugely popular mobile messaging app for distorting Chinese history and the history of the ruling Communist Party.

The WeChat accounts, such as "zhebushilishi" (meaning this is not the history), spread fabricated information and confused the public, said the administration.

The censored accounts "were against laws and regulations", "disobeyed socialist core values" and "severely disturbed the online order"which should be punished in accordance with laws, state-run news agency reported.

They closed them after investigating tip-offs by web users.

The administration will strengthen efforts on regulating online information and deal with tip-offs in a timely manner.

China is now taking steps to promote its vision of a clean, controlled and choreographed internet to other countries.

The Cyberspace Administration of China(CAC)said last week it had closed 50 websites and social media accounts for violations ranging from pornography to "publishing political news without a permit".

In September, the cyberspace watchdog had closed nearly 1.8 million accounts on social networking and instant messaging services since launching an anti-pornography campaign earlier in the year.