The great censors of China have put cryptocurrency on their radar. The Hong-Kong based South China Morning Post have reported that China's main search engines and social media networks are no longer permitting paid advertising or products associated with bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
The report states that keywords such as ‘bitcoin’, ‘cryptocurrency’, and ‘ICO’ appear to predominantly elicit journalistic content when searched on popular Chinese platforms Baidu and Weibo, whilst yielding an apparent absence of sponsored content. Weibo has confirmed that it does not presently allow advertising relating to cryptocurrencies, whilst Baidu is yet to comment on the matter.
There is speculation that the censorship of crypto ads may have begun following the introduction of the PBOC’s crackdown on ICOs in September 2017.