Chinese search giant Baidu has made moves to block crypto related content on its online portals, according to China Times.
The Beijing based media outlet, reported on Sunday that the search giant plans to restrict or place an outright ban on crypto related topics on the firm’s Reddit-like online form, known as Baidu Tieba.
At the moment, the sub-forums dedicated to “digital currency” and “virtual currency” appear to be unavailable to users. Searching for those keywords also triggers a statement on the forum that reads, “This forum is temporarily closed due to relevant laws, regulations, and policies.” Surprisingly, other sub-forums with ties to cryptocurrencies such as “bitcoin” and “ethereum” remain active on the forum as of press time.
A Baidu Tieba representative said the closure of the subforums could be linked to the company suspecting topics related to initial coin offerings (ICOs) and cryptocurrency speculation were being discussed.
The representative went on to justify the closure by adding “the same with why WeChat did it,” referring to the move by Tencent to block several crypto media on its WeChat messaging platform in a sweeping move to ban all posts about ICOs and crypto trading on its platform.
At the time of the ban, newly enacted rules from the Chinese government had been blamed as reasons for the closure.
Another Chinese company that has taken a hard stance against cryptocurrency is Alibaba who has vowed to continue monitoring and suspending accounts using Alipay, their mobile payment applications to conduct over-the-counter trading of cryptocurrencies.
Last week, WeChat Pay also released a statement last week prohibiting users from sending or receiving funds related to cryptocurrencies on its social media platform.
“We expect to firmly establish a risk prevention awareness, and actively cooperate with the government to maintain financial order and social stability,” the company noted in a press release.
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Jimmy has been following the development of blockchain for several years, and he is optimistic about its potential to democratize the financial system.
