China`s WeChat shuts 20 million prostitution-related accounts?

Beijing: The operator of WeChat, a popular instant messaging service in China today said it has shut down 20 million prostitution-related accounts so far this year to support the government`s crackdown on online pornography. Tencent, the operator of WeChat, or Weixin also said it has closed 30,000 accounts that were selling fake goods. A three-month-long crackdown on cyber crime was initiated in February by police in south China`s Guangdong Province, where Tencent is headquartered. The crackdown targeted online pornography and the spread of viruses on the Internet. Ten million illegal and fake advertisements have been pulled off on a daily basis over the past few months, state run Xinhua quoted WeChat in a?statement. In support of the campaign, Tencent set up a fund of 10 million yuan (USD 1.6 million) to encourage the public to report such crimes.

So far, 250,000 yuan has been handed out, the statement said. WeChat now has over 600 million users, according to Tencent.