Sina, the company behind China’s most influential microblogging platform Weibo, has decided to “voluntarily” suspended its popular news and blogging apps.
The company will pull two of its apps, Sina News and Sina Blog, from app stores and it will suspend its desktop-based Sina blog platform for a month to conduct an overhaul and rectifications, according to Beijing’s internet regulator. For existing users, the apps will still be accessible.
The Beijing-based internet giant was summoned for failing to weed out illegal and non-compliant content on its platforms. The internet regulator said some of Sina’s users were spreading untrue and vulgar information that could have a “bad influence” on public opinion.
It’s not the first time Chinese internet regulators pull the plug on popular apps. Four popular news apps, including Jinri Toutiao, Pheonix News, NetEase News, and Tiantian Kuaibao had been ordered to be removed from app stores last April. Last week, Xinhua reported that the Cyberspace Administration of China has removed more than 30,000 apps since last December.