China removes fake news about its military and closes social media accounts

Chinese internet regulators remove social media accounts that use false information to hype the country’s military strength, including false reports of “cyber warfare” in the South China Sea.

A sample post from June Douyinthe Chinese version of TikTok, read: “Breaking news: China and US engage in 12-hour cyber war, leaving Luzon island in Philippines to lose all GPS, communications and phone signals!”

Another fabricated post from July featured a video with an in-depth explanation of how China had won in its rivalry with the United States, thanks to a technological breakthrough by telecom giant Huawei, which had upgraded China’s radars.

In its latest report released Monday, the Cyberspace Administration of China said the messages were immediately identified as rumors and removed. The accounts responsible concocted “military fantasy stories” to give themselves a sense of satisfaction and satisfaction, the report said.

According to the report, several military and local government agencies recently deleted a series of accounts for “speculating and fabricating false information, misleading the public, and distorting the image of military personnel.”

Many of the accounts spread military rumors and fabricated history, the report said, citing two WeChat accounts that falsely claimed China had sunk four foreign ships.