Chinese Giant Baidu Joins Corporations in Cryptocurrency Crackdown 🚨 This article is 6 years old...
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Chinese Giant Baidu Joins Corporations in Cryptocurrency Crackdown
2 min read
Updated: Sep. 9, 2018 at 7:10 pm UTC
Photo by Raj Eiamworakul on Unsplash
After WeChat and Tencent distanced themselves from cryptocurrency-related activities and businesses last week, the Chinese search engine Baidu stated it would actively work to eradicate cryptocurrency footprints from Chinese internet forums.
Ban It All!
According to China Times, Baidu stated it would ban forum topics and heavily censor comments about cryptocurrencies on both its search platform and Tieba, a website similar to Reddit.
The article also revealed that Baidu has reviewed relevant regulatory rules, regulations and national sentiment on digital currencies, and would, therefore, tighten its rope on crypto-activities.
To test the ban, CryptoSlate searched Tieba for digital currency- and cryptocurrency-related content. No search results were found, indicating the company’s swift action in executing the order. Meanwhile, results for “virtual currency” display the message: “Sorry, this is not open according to relevant laws, regulations and policies.”
Additionally, searching for specific cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and EOS, showed up in several forums and post results.
Following Rival Moves
Founded in 2003, Tieba is the largest online forum for Chinese users. The network grew substantially due to the infamous “Great Firewall” regulation in 1997, which blocked Chinese users from expressing views and ideas on forums. The company now boasts 300 million monthly users.
Baidu’s move comes following WeChat and Alibaba’s moves to censor cryptocurrency communities and OTC trading on their applications. Beijing also banned any cryptocurrency firm from holding events in the city’s financial district.
Chinese cybersecurity teams also blocked internet access to 124-plus cryptocurrency exchanges last week, indicating robust censorship for the rising asset class from all quarters.
Posted In: China, Regulation
