Chinese social media accounts ‘profit from leaking official corruption scandals’

‘Grey market’ exploiting legal loopholes has made prosecution difficult, state media report warns The trend had created a new challenge for Chinese law enforcement, state-run journal Banyuetan reported on Friday. One tactic involves posting an official’s resume as a coded signal that they are under disciplinary investigation, according to Banyuetan, which is affiliated with state news agency Xinhua. It cited a case from a year ago involving Zhou Xianwang – a former senior official from Hubei province. On July 6 last year, a private social media account published Zhou’s detailed career history. Just two days later, China’s top anti-corruption watchdog announced that he was under investigation. The sequence of events was far from coincidental or isolated, Banyuetan noted, but rather part of a lucrative grey market where leaked information is circulated and monetised through online networks.

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