On 10 July 2023 the Cyberspace Administration of China issued a notice on strengthening the management of “we-media”, setting out thirteen requirements. The document does not stop at content removal. It extends the object of regulation from an individual post to the account, the organisation behind it and the chain of monetisation: who operates the account, on what credentials, where the information comes from, and how it earns.
For companies that rely on content to attract clients, for founder-led accounts and for MCN agencies, the notice changes not whether a particular post may be published, but whether an account, as a business asset, has a verifiable identity and a compliance foundation.
Starting with impersonation
The first requirement addresses impersonation. This covers names, avatars and bios that imitate government bodies, enterprises, social organisations or public figures, as well as homophones, variant characters and symbols used to evade identification. Platforms are expected to build verification and handling mechanisms rather than wait for user reports.
On its face this targets bad-faith accounts. In practice it affects every account that speaks as an “expert”, “lawyer” or “doctor”. Once a claimed identity does not match actual credentials, the account falls within impersonation or credential-display problems.
Credentials and sources
The notice requires stronger display of credentials: accounts covering finance, education, healthcare and the judiciary must have their qualifications verified and shown. It also requires proper source labelling. When republishing, name the source; when quoting, retain the origin; do not hide behind “comprehensive” or “reportedly”.
Both requirements point to one question: whether the producer of content and the party responsible for it can be traced. For corporate accounts, forwarding an industry report, quoting a policy or reproducing a case all require a checkable chain of sources. For institutional accounts, credentials are not merely an endorsement; they are the basis on which platforms review the account.
Fiction, dispute and rumour labels
The notice requires labels on fictional or disputed information, improved rumour-labelling, and the closure of accounts that manufacture rumours or exploit social hot spots with serious consequences, with such accounts entered into a platform blacklist and reported to cyberspace authorities.
The difficulty lies in the standard. Fiction is not prohibited as such: literary creation, dramatisation and hypothetical discussion may all involve invented material. The question is whether it could reasonably be mistaken for fact, and whether adequate notice is given. Platforms tend to solve this with labels, but whether a label blocks dissemination depends on where it appears and how prominent it is.
Monetisation and followers
The notice sets conditions for opening monetisation permissions, restricts profit from violations, and improves the management of follower counts. The logic is to cut the revenue chain: once an account is handled, it should not retain earning capacity by moving to another platform, opening批量 small accounts or migrating followers.
For MCN agencies, the notice requires stronger internal management and greater control over affiliated accounts. An agency is no longer only a traffic distributor; it must answer for account identity, content sources and commercial cooperation. Brands selecting accounts should also include the agency’s governance capacity in their diligence.
What companies should adjust
First, build an account inventory. Register corporate accounts, employee accounts and partner-creator accounts separately, noting the operating entity, credentials, content scope and monetisation method. Second, keep a source ledger, retaining original links and access dates for policies, data and cases. Third, adopt a fiction-labelling rule, specifying which scenarios require notice and where the notice appears. Fourth, connect account handling with contract terms, allocating remediation, takedown and liability in cooperation agreements.
These four steps are not complicated; sustained execution is. Platform rules will keep tightening, and account governance will not be completed in one round. Treating accounts as business assets that need an annual review is more prudent than repairing them during a campaign.
For content compliance and account governance, see our data compliance service and commercial contracts service; for brand cooperation and IP licensing, see intellectual property.
This article is based on the Notice on Strengthening the Management of “We-Media” issued by the Cyberspace Administration of China on 10 July 2023. It is for reference only and does not constitute legal advice.