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The WeChat accounts, including one whose name
translates as "This is not history", spread "fabricated
information" and confused the public, the official Xinhua news
agency said, citing the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC).
The censored accounts "were against laws and regulations",
"disobeyed socialist core values" and "severely disturbed the
online order".
Tencent declined to provide immediate comment.
China's CAC, helmed by internet czar Lu Wei, has presided over
sharp increase in state-mandated censorship and a campaign to
"cleanse" the internet.
China operates the world's most sophisticated internet
censorship mechanism, known as the Great Firewall. Censors
maintain a tight grip on what can and can't be published online,
especially anything seen to undermine the ruling Communist
Party.
China is now taking steps to promote its vision of a clean,
controlled and choreographed internet to other countries.
On Monday, Tencent apologized for rewarding WeChat app users who
sent a message with the English phrase "civil rights" with a
screen full of fluttering U.S. flags.
The 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, Xinhua said 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.
(Reporting by Paul Carsten; Editing by Nick Macfie)
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