- Weibo has removed the social media accounts of 80 prominent crypto influencers.
- The China-based social media company’s actions complied with regulations restricting virtual asset promotion and trading.
- Crypto influencers have been facing this challenge since 2019.
China’s Social Media Giant Removes Crypto Influencers from its Platform
Weibo, one of China’s biggest social media apps, has removed 80 popular crypto influencer accounts amidst Beijing’s crypto crackdown.
According to local media, each removed social media account had eight million followers.
Weibo said that the sudden removal of the crypto influencers from its social media app was in accordance with Beijing’s local regulations on virtual asset trading.
The social media app giant said that the crypto influencers were accused of violating eight regulations regarding, marketing, trade and finance, securities, telecommunications, and internet safety.
The Beijing-based firm stated that it would continue to receive complaints from users and launch investigations into illegal virtual assets trading activities according to the law.
According to Weibo, the mass account removal is a measure to purge its platform of misinformation.
While removing these crypto influencers may be sudden, a similar incident occurred in March.
After China’s cryptocurrency ban took effect, Weibo began to remove social media accounts that breached the regulations.
In March, the Beijing-based social media company removed 131 accounts associated with crypto and stock trading.
“We will continue to increase the crackdown on illegal securities activities that exist on the platform and strictly control related violations of laws and regulations, and we will never tolerate them,” Weibo said in a statement.
The account removal follows the most prominent global crypto crackdown in August 2022 when the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) ordered the removal of 12,000 crypto-related accounts on websites like Weibo and Baidu. The CAC also ordered the removal of 51,000 social media posts promoting virtual assets.
“[The purpose is to] protect the property safety of the people in accordance with the law and to remind the majority of netizens to establish correct investment concepts, enhance risk prevention awareness, refrain from participating in virtual currency trading hype activities, and beware of personal property damage,” The Cyberspace Administration of China(CAC) said.
China’s attempt to take out the social media posts and accounts of crypto influencers also happened in 2019. The co-founder of Binance, Yi He, and the founder of the TRON blockchain ecosystem, Justin Sun, were banned on Weibo.
In 2021, ten government agencies jointly announced several cryptocurrency-related activities as illegal financial activities.
Despite the crypto crackdown in Beijing, some cryptocurrency activities are not illegal.
The cryptocurrency scene in Beijing is rigid in comparison to Hong Kong. Crypto companies in China have migrated to Hong Kong to enjoy the benefits of operating under a crypto-friendly state.
Hong Kong has started a campaign to become a crypto hub. Within a couple of years, crypto-friendly policies have been established and the state has granted support to several crypto firms. Hong Kong has hosted over 100 crypto-related events this year.
