China initiates crackdown on mobile messaging

China has initiated a month-long crackdown on mobile phone messaging services such as WeChat, Financial Times reported. The campaign, aimed at what it calls rumor-mongering and the infiltration of hostile forces, is the latest in a long line of moves restricting online freedom of expression, and is timed ahead of next month’s 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy demonstrations. Services affected include those that allow users to post photos and updates and follow the feeds of companies, celebrities and journalists or intellectuals who comment on current events.