Some Weibo users voiced concerns that the new rules may mean they could face more risks in real life from their online activities. — Photo by Steve Gale on Unsplash
Chinese microblogging site Weibo Corp. is planning to ask its more influential users to display their real names to the public, a move that could encroach on online privacy in the world’s biggest Internet arena.
The profiles of users with more than 1 million followers will be required to reveal their identities on the social media platform, Weibo Chief Executive Officer Wang Gaofei said last week. Wang has implemented the change to his personal account, which previously didn’t show his name publicly.
"I’m testing out the controversial function myself first,” Wang wrote Friday in one of the Weibo posts in response to user queries about the change.
Beijing has long demanded insight into users on social media, concerned about dissent but also criminal activity such as stock market manipulation and fake news. It’s unclear if Weibo is acting on the instructions of Internet regulators, and Wang, while acknowledging a potentially unpopular move, didn’t explain his rationale. He said different rules may apply to people with large followings.
In his exchange with users, Wang wrote that the threshold for real-name display could lower to 500,000 followers in the future, and not further down. But he added, "it’s common sense what I said doesn’t matter,” posting with a shrug emoji.
A company spokesperson declined to comment but confirmed the authenticity of Wang’s Weibo posts.
The move, the first of its kind among Chinese social media outfits, is a dramatic adoption of Beijing regulations that users should provide their real names to platform operators during the registration process. In July, China’s top Internet watchdog demanded online platforms tighten control on independent content creators, including via better verification of accounts.
It’s unclear whether Weibo will eventually remove front-end anonymity for all or just a select pool of users.
Some Weibo users voiced concerns that the new rules may mean they could face more risks in real life from their online activities.
"I can give up my privacy, but who’s there to protect me?” one blogger wrote in a post which has garnered 4,000 likes. "Will verbal abuse, harassment, stalking, defamation and all the other crimes caused by information leaks be effectively contained?”
Once regarded as the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, now known as X, Weibo has over the years lost its appeal to younger users as they flock to more addictive mobile apps like ByteDance Ltd.’s short video service Douyin. The Beijing-based outfit, in the meantime, grapples with one of the strictest censorship regimes in the world as a go-to repository for entertainment news and celebrity gossip, topics that are subject to regular scrutiny by Chinese regulators.
Last year, Chinese social apps including Weibo and Douyin started to display users’ locations based on their Internet protocol addresses, a mandatory feature they say is designed to stop spreading false rumors. – Bloomberg
