Tech and Science News
China's NetEase to rectify 'irregular practices' at finance website
BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese internet company NetEase said on Tuesday it would stop updating its finance website from today to rectify what it called “irregular practices” and conduct a “comprehensive correction.”
FILE PHOTO - Ding Lei, founder and CEO of NetEase, attends a session of the second annual World Internet Conference in Wuzhen town of Jiaxing, Zhejiang province, China, December 16, 2015. REUTERS/Aly Song
The announcement from the Nasdaq-listed company comes as the Chinese government is ramping up a campaign to regulate online media with tighter licensing rules and censorship.
NetEase said its finance site had encountered problems and the firm had conducted a “serious self-criticism and introspection” and would work with other platforms to “create a clean and upright cyberspace.”
NetEase did not specify the problems in its statement posted on the company’s portal site. The company declined to comment further after being contacted by Reuters.
The NetEase portal site is known for its outspoken opinion pieces and a freewheeling comments section, where popular posts are widely circulated online.
The Guangzhou-based company has a market capitalization of nearly $25 billion and provides services in online gaming, advertising and e-commerce.
Chinese internet users speculated that NetEase’s problems may be linked to an online opinion piece that argued for lower income taxes, which appeared to run against government goals to raise more tax revenue.
The Chinese government maintains strict censorship of news sites and media platforms.
In April, a government watchdog forced the closure of an app controlled by the news site Toutiao due to “vulgar and improper content.”
Reporting by Pei Li and Ryan Woo; Editing by Darren Schuettler
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