Photo: Screenshot of Paperclip's YouTube account

Multiple social media accounts featuring science videos and news comments, including PaperClip, were banned or suspended on various Chinese platforms on Wednesday, under suspicion of spreading unverified information and smearing efforts of the Chinese government.

The accounts include the controversial PaperClip and Elephant Magazine, and the personal account of their founder Huang Zhangjin.

These accounts are no longer available across mainstream social media platforms, including Sina Weibo, Bilibili and WeChat. However, the official explanation for the closure has not yet been released and the accounts on overseas platforms, including YouTube, are still available. 

PaperClip, a popular science video account, has become mired in controversy after Chinese netizens revealed that two of its former employees made anti-China comments on overseas social media. One of them currently works for the US Army Research Laboratory.

Sailei Sanfenzhong, another famous science account with 420,000 followers on Sina Weibo, posted a video to denounce the comments made on a group of science accounts and urged Chinese people to boycott anti-China foreign forces such as China Dialogue, an organization based in London with connections with several prominent China-bashing figures that has been constantly issuing baseless comments about Hong Kong's affairs. 

PaperClip has been in hot water since March, 2020, when some netizens pointed out that one of its videos on YouTube, aired in 2018, failed to include the island of Taiwan in the Chinese map. However, the island was shown as part of China on the same video broadcasted on Chinese social media. 

Many netizens applauded the closure of PaperClip's account, saying PaperClip hurts national interest and sovereignty and cannot be forgiven.

Bilibili, one of China's biggest video sharing sites, tagged PaperClip's account as  "controversial" and warned its 3 million users to cautiously examine its contents. The Communist Youth League of China, and Jun Zhengping, an account affiliated with Chinese People's Liberation Army, also criticized the account. 

Netizens also revealed a video posted by PaperClip about deforestation in South America, which says that China is Brazil's main consumer of soybeans and their production causes deforestation. Many netizens went online to criticize the video, saying that the authors are "colluding with foreigners to insult China."

Another account from the Elephant Magazine was also criticized for its controversial  and groundless remarks attacking cotton production in Xinjiang, as well as China's high-speed railway.

Some netizens also revealed that Elephant Magazine and PaperClip share funding sources and employees.