Photos like this could now be labeled “pornographic” by Weibo's supervisors. Photo by dimitrisvetsikas via Pixabay (CC0) Chinese tech giant Sina Weibo has recruited 1,000 Weibo supervisors to report on “pornographic, illegal and harmful content” after China's Cyberspace Administration investigated and fined Weibo for failing to purge banned content from its social media platform. The policy is already having adverse effects on users, particularly young women, whose photos are being labeled “pornographic” if they show a woman's leg, abdomen or cleavage. Users who are found to violate the rules may have their “social credit” scores reduced, which can limit to their ability to use the platform. The investigation of Tencent, Baidu and Sina Weibo The Cyberspace Administration's Beijing and Guangdong offices launched a comprehensive investigation into Chinese internet companies Tencent, Baidu and Sina Weibo on 11 August 2017, charging that their social media platforms had violated newly passed Cybersecurity Law and were not adequately managing information published by their users. After one month of investigation, the authorities concluded on 25 September that the three had violated Article 47 of the Cybersecurity Law by hosting “information of violence and terror, false rumors, pornography, and other information that jeopardizes national security, public safety, and social order.” Article 47 of the Cybersecurity Law requires network operators to effectively manage content published by users. In contrast to major technology companies in the United States, such as Facebook and Google, these Chinese internet giants are now obligated to proactively censor illegal content and report it to the authorities. Accordingly, the three companies were given the “heaviest fine” based on Article 68, which states the maximum fine is up to RMB 500,000 yuan (approximately 76,000 US dollars). On 30 September, three days after the authorities’ fined Sina Weibo for violating the Cybersecurity Law, the company posted a notice on its official account inviting users to apply to become one of 1,000 “Weibo supervisors” — a team under the supervision of the Cyberspace Administration: 为落实企业主体责任，强化网民监督，净化微博社区环境，有效处置微博上的涉黄、违法及有害信息。在北京市网信办的指导下，微博专门建立了社区监督员机制，面向所有用户公开招募1000名微博监督员。微博监督员通过特殊的举报机制针对微博上的涉黄、违法及有害信息进行举报处理，站方将根据举报统计情况向合格的微博监督员按月发放网费补贴，并赠送微博会员。同时我们对每月有效举报数量最多的微博监督员给予物质奖励，奖品包括苹果手机、国产手机或笔记本电脑等。 To enact corporate responsibility, motivate netizens to actively monitor [online content], clean up the Weibo community environment and handle the pornographic and harmful information on Weibo, under the supervision of the Beijing Cyberspace Administration, Weibo is launching a community supervisor system and recruiting 1,000 supervisors from the community. The Weibo supervisors will report on pornographic, illegal and harmful information circulating on Weibo through a special reporting channel. The site will release monthly subsidies [to compensate supervisors for their work and internet connection cost] based on these statistics. At the same time, those who file the most reports will receive special gifts, including iPhones, local brand cell phones or notebook computers. While there are many pro-government comments supporting Weibo’s decision, one can still find a number of critiques online, including the following: 发动群众斗群众的第二弹！有害怎么认定？这些人的资质如何考核？最终裁决谁来做？与之前的社区管理员有什么区别？删贴和销号之间什么关系？各是什么规则？这个机制运行的前提是公开透明细化和可执行的处罚条款！ This is another mobilization of the masses against the masses. How do they define harmful? How do they make sure these people are qualified to do the content review? Who makes the final call [for censorship]? What is the difference between the “Weibo supervisors” and the community manager [a system set up a few years ago for community reporting]? What is the relationship between deleting a post and deleting an account? Is there any rule? Without openly and transparently stating rules, or specifying the operation and consequences of violating content rules, how can you kickstart the system? 不评论，第一你是个平台，对于不当的东西你咋定标准，开放是你的定位，你们是招城管吧，要是有违法行为有法院，有律师 No comment. As a platform, how can you set up standards for inappropriate content? Your principle should be open platform. Doesn’t this look like open recruitment of Chengguan [city management officers responsible for sanitation and environment who are notorious for their abusive use of power]? If there is any illegal content, we have courts and lawyers [to decide this]. Weibo supervisors have been reporting content violations for more than a week now, and a group of female users are already feeling its effects.