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 Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, Tencent Holdings Ltd, Baidu Inc, Sina
Corp affiliate Weibo Corp and other companies deleted the accounts
in a cull aimed at "rectifying" online names, the Cyberspace
Administration of China (CAC) said.
The reasons for their removal included accusations of being
misleading, rumor mongering, links to terrorism, or involving
violence, pornography and other violations, the CAC said in a
statement on its website late on Thursday.
The purge is notable as a step toward China's government locking
down control over people's internet account names, an effort which
censors have struggled with in the past, despite numerous efforts to
introduce controls.
These failed attempts have included trying to force users to
register for online services using their real names.
The new regulations, which take on effect March 1 and will also
target real-name registration, were issued by the CAC, which was
formed last year and given power over all online content, something
previously divided between various state ministries.
"Previously, the real-name registration system hasn't really been
enforced," said Rogier Creemers, a researcher on Chinese media law
at the University of Oxford. "These rules essentially impose a
uniform and consolidated system for all online services requiring
accounts."
The measure also reflects China's tightening control of the
Internet, which has accelerated since President Xi Jinping took
power in early 2013.
Weibo, the country's biggest microblog platform, will comply with
the regulations and had a dedicated team to handle illegal
information, including account names, a spokesman told Reuters.
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E-commerce giant Alibaba declined to comment beyond highlighting a
section of the CAC's statement on Alibaba's efforts to set up a team
to handle account name issues. Tencent, China's biggest social
networking and gaming company, and search leader Baidu were not
available for immediate comment.
Among the accounts removed were those purporting to belong to state
agencies, state media organizations and the East Turkestan Islamic
Movement, said the CAC. China has blamed ETIM for violent attacks,
but experts and rights groups have cast doubt on its existence as a
cohesive group.
China operates one of the world's most sophisticated online
censorship mechanisms, known as the Great Firewall. Censors keep a
grip on what can be published online, particularly content seen as
potentially undermining the ruling Communist Party.
(Reporting by Paul Carsten; Editing by Robert Birsel)
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