Top public relations director at Chinese social media giant Weibo arrested

Chinese authorities have arrested a top public relations executive at Chinese social media giant Weibo Corp, local Chinese media reported widely on Tuesday and confirmed to Reuters by a company source.

According to an internal memo sent to staff and seen by Reuters, Mao Taotao, director of public relations at Weibo – which is partly owned by e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. – is suspected of bribery and had “seriously harmed the interests of the company.”

“In accordance with company policy and the law, we have decided to fire Mao as punishment, and will not re-hire him,” the memo said.

The firing comes as Alibaba faces backlash over delaying action relating to an employee’s allegations of sexual assault https://www.reuters.com/world/china/alibaba-fires-manager-who-allegedly-sexually-assaulted-female-staffer-2021-08-09 against her manager and a client.