Chinese social media firm Weibo axes PR exec over bribery claims

Details:

• Mao Taotao, who oversaw public relations for Weibo, has been fired, and the company does not plan on hiring the executive again, according to an internal notice seen by Bloomberg.
• The notice stated that the move demonstrates Weibo’s “zero tolerance” towards such behavior and serves as a “warning to everyone” to follow the group’s rules and abide by the law.

Dive deeper:

• In 2020, the microblogging platform had drawn scrutiny after posts that discussed a controversy surrounding Alibaba executive Jiang Fan were scrubbed from the site. Government officials reportedly viewed the incident as an undesirable reflection of the ecommerce giant’s ability to sway public opinion.
• Alibaba, another one of China’s tech titans, was also mired in a recent scandal after one of the firm’s employees accused her boss of sexual assault on a business trip.