Weibo Still Faces Crackdown Despite Govt Tie-Up 新浪微博难改“被监管”命运
Everyone is buzzing over remarks from a senior party official saying government agencies should embrace mircroblogging to better perform their jobs, interpreting the comments to mean that the popular medium dominated by Sina’s (Nasdaq: SINA) Weibo service won’t come under regulatory pressure soon as many had feared. But a closer look at the actual remarks by Wang Chen, director of China’s State Council Information Office, offers no such reassurances, and I predict it’s only a matter of time before the industry indeed comes under strict new regulations, seriously hampering Weibo and other Twitter-like microblogging services in China. (English article) Wang’s remarks sparked a rally in Sina shares, which soared 18 percent on the news. But a more careful look at his comments show he merely encouraged government agencies to actively use microblogging to better serve society. That sounds fine, but it doesn’t really address the major concern that sparked a sell-off of Sina shares earlier this month after another official said the government was likely to require all microbloggers to register with their real names in the future to curb the rampant rumor mongering and anonymous critical blabbering that has become a staple on the medium. (previous post) That requirement sent a chill over Sina shares because investors realized that many of Weibo’s 200 million registered users would probably decline to open new accounts using their real names if such a new requirement was added, greatly lowering the number of users and Weibo’s attractiveness to advertisers and others who might be willing to pay for exposure on the system. While the latest remarks indicate Weibo isn’t likely to be shut down anytime soon and may even have good government relations, they don’t change the reality that strict new regulations are almost inevitable as the government tries to clean up the mircroblogging space.
Bottom line: New remarks showing government support for microblogging don’t change the fact that strict new regulations are coming that will lower traffic dramatically.
Related postings 相关文章:
◙ Sina’s Weibo: Growth Engine or Growing Burden? 新浪微博：动力or负担？
◙ Investors Punish Sina for Slow Weibo Progress
◙ Sina Gets Serious on SNS With New “Blogging Light” 新浪推出轻博客 大力进军社交网络业务
