A MAN surnamed Zhang was detained for illegally offering to delete online posts for money, according to Futian police.

The culprit was discovered by the Futian police officers during their investigation. With the help of big data, they successfully located Zhang and offered the information to Huafu Police Station.

Officers with Huafu Police Station then investigated the tech company where Zhang works. Zhang was typing on a computer keyboard when the police arrived at the office.

According to the information released by the police, Zhang is responsible for the company’s network operations. Besides his regular work, he is also in charge of managing the company’s online image and reputation, which sometimes requires him to remove negative posts from the Internet.

Zhang realized that he could earn extra money by taking advantage of his job to privately help those who seek to delete posts, win online votes or get post bar accounts.

Since November 2018, Zhang has deleted over 300 online posts, helped to win online votes over 500 times and sold two accounts, earning him 50,000 yuan (US$7,096).

At the same time, police officers identified a group of suspects who had cooperated with Zhang. The investigation is currently under way.

Relevant laws suggest that people who have earned over 20,000 yuan from private businesses for providing paid services to delete posts or deliberately publish false information on online platforms could be convicted of illegal business operations.

(Wang Jingli)