China’s top cyber authority said on Friday it is investigating several of China’s most popular internet platforms over breaches of cyber laws.
The investigation includes China’s most popular social media platforms, Tencent Holdings Ltd’s WeChat and Weibo Corp, as well as Baidu Inc’s forum site Tieba, CNBC reported on Friday.
The Cyberspace Administration of China accuses the sites of failing to remove violent and obscene content, as well as terrorism content and false news, according to local regulations. American technology company Apple has also faced increased oversight from the state Internet organization in recent weeks.
App-tracking site ASO100.com says that the US company has so far removed more than 400 VPN apps from its Apple store in China. But while Apple is trying to maintain good relations with China by complying with such requests, analysts and tech commentators believe that its troubles with the country ‘have just started.’
Google famously took a stand in 2010, when it decided to exit the Chinese market rather than give in to censorship, but that was an easier decision, as the company was not making much money in that country. However, unlike Google, Apple is far more profitable in the Chinese market due to its branding presence in that country.
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