Weibo Crackdown Takes Aim at Web Scrapers, Not Users

Chinese microblogging site Weibo Corp.'s misunderstood attempt to thwart web scrapers from republishing users’ posts sparked fears of a copyright grab.

A recent notice from the company highlights the fierce competition in China’s social media landscape and a growing willingness by Weibo—China’s version of Twitter—to try and stop other services that take content or data without permission. Weibo was a Sina Corp spinoff, and Alibaba Corp. is a major shareholder.

Weibo alerted users Sept. 16 of a policy change prohibiting third parties from publishing content from users’ microblogs without the company’s written approval.

The notice—aimed at third parties and not ...