Chinese travel platform Mafengwo, known mainly for its millennial user base of independent travellers, has denied a social media report that had accused it of copying review content from competitors and fabricating reviews on its platform.
The report, under a social media account on WeChat, accused the company of using bots and hiring writers to copy hundreds of thousands of reviews from rivals such as Ctrip, Meituan-Dianping, Agoda and Yelp.
Mafengwo tried to pacify the furore in a statement published on Monday that said it has distanced itself from merchants who may have engaged in faking reviews, removing 26,000 posts each week for violating its terms and conditions, and has to date closed down 15,000 accounts.
Source: SCMP