Jan 7, 2023 - World

China suspends social media accounts criticizing COVID policies

Sareen Habeshian

Passenger queue at a train station in Beijing on Jan. 5. Photo: Noel Celis / AFP via Getty Images

China has removed more than 1,000 social media accounts for criticizing the government's COVID-19 policies, BBC reports.

Driving the news: Weibo, a Chinese social media platform, suspended or banned 1,120 accounts for what it described as personal attacks against the county's coronavirus specialists, per BBC.

The platform said it found nearly 13,000 violations, including attacks on experts, scholars and medical workers.

The big picture: The social media sweep comes after China got rid of its strict COVID policies last month amid heightened virus spread, and just before a mandatory quarantine requirement for incoming travelers lifts Sunday and borders reopen to outsiders for the first time in almost three years.

What they're saying: "It is not acceptable to hurl insults at people who hold a different point of view, or publish personal attacks and views that incite conflicts," Weibo said in a statement per BBC.

Meanwhile, an enormous wave of COVID infections is straining China's medical facilities and the country’s coronavirus death toll could reach almost 1 million people as it reopens.

Go deeper: China travel: More countries impose COVID requirements

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China suspends social media accounts criticizing COVID policies

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