Passenger queue at a train station in Beijing on Jan. 5. Photo: Noel Celis / AFP via Getty Images
China has removed more than 1,000 social media accounts for criticizing the government's COVID-19 policies, BBC reports.
Driving the news: Weibo, a Chinese social media platform, suspended or banned 1,120 accounts for what it described as personal attacks against the county's coronavirus specialists, per BBC.
- The platform said it found nearly 13,000 violations, including attacks on experts, scholars and medical workers.
The big picture: The social media sweep comes after China got rid of its strict COVID policies last month amid heightened virus spread, and just before a mandatory quarantine requirement for incoming travelers lifts Sunday and borders reopen to outsiders for the first time in almost three years.
What they're saying: "It is not acceptable to hurl insults at people who hold a different point of view, or publish personal attacks and views that incite conflicts," Weibo said in a statement per BBC.
Meanwhile, an enormous wave of COVID infections is straining China's medical facilities and the country’s coronavirus death toll could reach almost 1 million people as it reopens.
Go deeper: China travel: More countries impose COVID requirements
