China shuts down nearly 2 million social media accounts in porn crackdown

China has closed nearly 1.8 million social networking and instant messaging accounts since April in a crackdown on prostitution and pornography, state media reported Saturday.

Chinese internet companies like Tencent and Sina closed the accounts, the Xinhua news agency quoted the Cyberspace Administration as saying.

Authorities inspected accounts that include instant messaging service QQ, smart phone apps WeChat and Weibo.

Launched by Tencent in 2011, WeChat had 272 million active users last year, more than 100 million of them from abroad. Other Chinese internet companies affected include the recently listed Alibaba, Baidu and phone carrier China Mobile that also offer instant messaging apps but boast far fewer users.

State media is actively involved in the anti-pornography campaign begun in April by state ministries.

Chinese internet users have consistently poked fun and expressed doubts about the intentions behind the sweeps, with critics alleging that social morality campaigns mask the Communist Party's online political censorship.