China purges nearly 8,000 malicious apps

China flagChina’s central internet regulator has deleted almost 8,000 ‘malicious’ mobile apps for exploiting users, as the nation’s government continues to clamp down on the internet.

The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) ordered telecoms operators to shut down the services of 7,873 apps, according to Reuters. These apps were found to have overcharged and cheated users as well as stolen information.

The campaign, which begun in September, saw the CAC link up with other areas of the Chinese government to target “malicious mobile apps that infringe on users’ rights”.

One of the apps targeted was a Chinese version of ‘Fruit Ninja’, which tricked users into signing up to paying for services they didn’t want. Other games highlighted in the report include ‘Bathroom Goddess’ and ‘Naughty Housemaid’, which committed information theft, spamming, and forced downloads.

China’s video game market was under intense scrutiny since last year when the government stopped approving new game titles for almost a year until recently. The CAC has also said that it removed 7m pieces of online information.