Weibo bloggers are now urged by the Chinese website to avoid badmouthing China's economy, especially since it is struggling these days.
Unlike X (formerly Twitter), Weibo is quite strict when it comes to topics about China. Now, the Chinese social media platform allegedly sent a memo to some bloggers.
People walk by the Nasdaq exchange in Times Square moments before China's Weibo began trading on the Nasdaq exchange under the ticker symbol WB on April 17, 2014 in New York City. Weibo Corp, a Twitter-like messaging service company, priced its initial public offering (IPO) at $17.
Sources familiar with the matter said that the memo urges Chinese bloggers on Weibo to avoid "expressing pessimism" regarding the economic issues that the Asian country experiences.
Weibo Bloggers Now Urged to Avoid Badmouthing China's Economy
According to BNN Bloomberg's latest report, a Weibo blogger-with over 76,000 followers-said that he was privately messaged by the Chinese platform on Thursday, Dec. 14.
The anonymous user claimed that Weibo asked him to post less about China's economic issues. Because of this, the micro-blogger decided to share a lighthearted video about baseball in the United States.
Aside from the finance blogger, another Chinese markets expert on Weibo said that he was asked by the website to "avoid crossing the red lines," especially around China's financial and economic topics.
The Chinese markets blogger only has around 16,000 followers, hinting that Weibo is even asking small-time Weibo influencers to avoid badmouthing the Chinese economy.
As of writing, Weibo's representatives haven't shared any comment regarding the leaked memo, which came as the topl leaders of the nation make efforts to restore the country's economic confidence.
Previously, China's Ministry of State Security warned residents that their negative comments about the economy could endanger national security.
"Various clichés intended to undermine China's economy have appeared consistently, in an attempt to use false narratives to construct a 'discourse trap' and 'cognitive trap' that China is in decline," explained the Chinese ministry.
"This is an attempt to strategically contain and suppress China," it added via its official WeChat account.
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Will Non-Compliant Weibo Users Get Banned?
This photo illustration taken on March 19, 2014 shows the logo of Chinese microblogging platform Weibo on a smartphone in the Chinese financial city of Shanghai. While Internet giants like Twitter and Google champion free speech, the US listing document for Chinese microblogging platform Weibo is littered.
As of press time, Weibo hasn't confirmed if it will ban non-compliant bloggers on the website. But, there's a chance this could happen since it already happened previously.
Time Magazine reported in June that the popular website banned a prominent finance writer, as well as his two peers, after they talked about the nation's unemployment rate and the stock market.
Weibo claimed that Wu Xiaobo and his two peers (whose identities were not disclosed) "attacked and undermined" the Chinese policy. They were also accused of spreading harmful and negative content about China's economy.
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