'Everyone is Dead': Tencent Apologizes for Report of Mass Deaths in East China

By Matthew Bossons, August 16, 2019

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An apology has been issued by Tencent Video, after the company sent a push notification on Monday stating that almost all of Shandong province’s nearly 99.5 million residents had been killed during Typhoon Lekima. The message, which was sent to the video platform’s subscribers, quoted the province’s emergency management department and added that seven people were additionally missing.

Later, the company sent another push notification clarifying that only five people had been killed during the storm. Whoops!

typhoon.jpgImage via @新浪山东/Weibo. Translation by Ryan Gandolfo

On Weibo, Tencent apologized for any harm the notice may have caused and blamed the mishap on an “editorial mistake,” adding that it plans to conduct a stringent review of its work practices, according to South China Morning Post. While rumors have been circulating online that the staffers responsible for the notification have been fired, Tencent has denied this.

Unquestionably one of China’s most dominant video-streaming platforms, Tencent Video boasts 89 million subscribers and an active monthly user base of more than 900 million.

Typhoon Lekima slammed into East China last weekend, wreaking havoc on Zhejiang, Shanghai, Jiangsu and Shandong, and resulting in the deaths of 56 people. According to SCMP, the storm was the fifth-worst typhoon to visit China in the past seven decades.

[Cover image via Pixabay]

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