According to the BBC, China’s Xinhua news agency has reported that a massive spam attack hit 200 million people in the country, sending unwanted advertising text messages to their mobile phones. All of those affected were subscribers to either China Mobile or China Unicom, and both companies have since set up hot lines to handle consumer complaints. But the size of the attack has meant that the state has become involved. Liu Yue, deputy head of the State Council Office for Rectifying Malpractice, said, “We urge parties concerned to beef up self-scrutiny to correct their wrongdoing, which is profit driven in defiance of public interests.” China Mobile has announced it was block text originating with seven different online ad agencies.
