China closes 60 celebrity gossip social media accounts

Website operators from some of China's biggest Internet companies were told in a meeting they must take steps to control user accounts focusing on celebrity gossip. — Reuters

BEIJING: China's cyberspace authorities have ordered Internet companies to close 60 popular celebrity gossip social media accounts in the latest in a series of crackdowns on independent media.

Website operators from some of China's biggest Internet companies including Tencent and Baidu were told in a meeting they must take steps to control user accounts focusing on celebrity gossip, according to a post on the Beijing Cyberspace Administration's social media account.