Weibo is a social media network widely used in China. The company is often compared to Twitter, and it’s a space where Chinese users come to post basically the same things people on Twitter post. On Thursday, the company informed users that it would start revealing their IP locations on both their account profiles and comments to “combat bad behavior.”
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The announcement has many users nervous, and the Weibo post received over 200 million views.
“Every IP address seems to be whispering in your ear: ‘You be careful,'” wrote user Misty.
Others, however, said they were supportive of the measures, in light of COVID-related misinformation.
Weibo, which has over 570 million monthly active users, said users’ IP addresses would be displayed under new settings which came into effect on Thursday and cannot be turned off by users.
For users in China, the platform will display the province or municipality where they are posting from, it said. For those using Weibo overseas, the country of users’ IP addresses will be displayed.
The settings are designed to “reduce bad behaviour such as impersonating parties involved in hot topic issues, malicious disinformation and traffic scraping, and to ensure the authenticity and transparency of the content disseminated,” it said in a notice.
“Weibo has always been committed to maintaining a healthy and orderly atmosphere of discussion and protecting the rights and interests of users to quickly obtain real and effective information,” the notice read.
Reuters
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