Internet Users Face New Restrictions
In China
Changes suggest China
under new leader Xi Jinping will continue to control internet use.
1:40pm UK, Friday 28
December 2012
China has tightened
internet controls, legalising the deletion of posts or pages which are deemed
to contain "illegal" information.
The new laws also require
service providers to hand over such information to the authorities for
punishment.
The move signals that the
new leadership headed by Communist Party chief Xi Jinping will continue to
muzzle the often scathing online chatter in a country where the internet offers
a rare opportunity for debate.
The regulations, announced
by the official Xinhua news agency, also require internet users to register
with their real names when signing up with network providers, though, in
reality, this already happens.
Chinese authorities and
Internet companies such as Sina Corp have long since closely monitored and
censored what people say online, but the government has now put measures such
as deleting posts into law.
The rules state:
"Service providers are required to instantly stop the transmission of
illegal information once it is spotted and take relevant measures, including
removing the information and saving records, before reporting to supervisory
authorities."
The restrictions follow a
series of corruption scandals amongst lower-level officials exposed by internet
users, something the government has said it is trying to encourage.
Li Fei, deputy head of
parliament's legislative affairs committee, told a news conference the rules
did not mean people needed to worry about being unable to report corruption
online.
But he warned: "When
people exercise their rights, including the right to use the internet, they
must do so in accordance with the law and constitution, and not harm the legal
rights of the state, society ... or other citizens."
Chinese internet users already
cope with extensive censorship measures, especially over politically sensitive
topics like human rights and elite politics, and popular foreign sites
Facebook, Twitter and Google-owned YouTube are blocked.
Earlier this year, the
government began forcing users of Sina's wildly successful Weibo microblogging
platform to register their real names, a move quickly condemned by some users.
"So now they are
getting Weibo to help in keeping records and reporting it to authorities. Is
this the freedom of expression we are promised in the constitution?"
complained one user.
"We should resolutely
oppose such a covert means to interfere with internet freedom," wrote
another.
The government says
tighter monitoring of the internet is needed to prevent people making malicious
and anonymous accusations online.
It also wants to stop
users disseminating pornography and spreading panic with unfounded rumours,
pointing out that many other countries already have such rules.
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