Prominent Chinese business analysts are starting to disappear from social media

Some of China’s most prominent analysts have been subjected to social media restrictions that appear designed to restrict their ability to comment on the country’s ailing stock markets and struggling economy.

Some of China’s most prominent analysts have been subjected to social media restrictions that appear designed to restrict their ability to comment on the country’s ailing stock markets and struggling economy. At least six analysts are unable to upload new posts or gain new followers on popular social networking platforms, according to their account pages reviewed by CNN. One of them is Liu Jipeng, an advisor to the Chinese government, who recently asked retail investors in the country to refrain from investing in the stock market. He has not posted on social media since early December and users can no longer follow his accounts. When CNN tried to follow his accounts on short-video app Douyin and news aggregator app Toutiao, it saw the following statement: “This user can’t be followed due to violations of the platform’s rules.” Chinese social media is known to silence critics. Before being curtailed, these business experts were known to air candid views on the state of the world’s second largest economy. None of the experts affected responded to CNN’s request for comment. And the platforms they used — including Weibo, Douyin and Toutiao — did not respond to CNN’s questions, including the reason behind the restrictions.