China tightens grip on instant messaging services
China tightens grip on instant messaging services
Posted: Aug 07, 2014 4:03 AM PDT
Updated: Aug 07, 2014 7:17 AM PDT
BEIJING (AP) - China's government tightened control over
popular instant messaging services Thursday after telling South Korea that
access to some foreign services was blocked because they were used to exchange
terrorism-related information.
The government announced that only established media
companies will be allowed to release political and social news. That would
curtail the growing use of instant messaging services by journalists and
scholars to distribute independent news reports and commentary.
The ruling Communist Party has repeatedly tightened
controls over microblogs and other social media that give Chinese a rare
platform to express themselves to a large audience in a country where all
traditional media are state-controlled.
China informed South Korea it has blocked access to two
mobile messaging services, Kakao Talk and Line, which it said were used to
exchange terrorism-related information, according to a South Korean official
who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to speak on the matter.
China's government is on edge about security following a
series of deadly attacks that authorities blame on Islamic radicals seeking
independence for the country's northwestern region of Xinjiang.
Beijing says it has confirmed terrorism-related
information circulated through Kakao Talk and Line, the South Korean official
said. It was not clear how Beijing had access to messages between users of the
two services, which are private and seen only by the participants.
Chinese authorities gave no information about which
terrorists might use the message services, the official said. He declined to
give more details.
In May, the government launched a one-month crackdown on
instant messaging services to stop what it called the "infiltration of
hostile forces." Authorities said it targeted people spreading rumors and
information about violence, terrorism or pornography.
The campaign targeted public accounts on services
including WeChat in China, a mobile message service run by Tencent Holdings
Ltd., which has surged in popularity in the last two years.
Canny Lo, spokeswoman for Tencent, said the company
complies with government policies where it operates and endeavors to provide a
healthy and secure online environment for users.
Last summer, Beijing cracked down on microblogging
services such as Sina Weibo in an apparent effort to stifle criticism of the
Communist Party. Authorities closed accounts of liberal-minded microbloggers
and detained bloggers on criminal charges of spreading rumors or other
offenses.
The crackdown helped drive users to WeChat, which allows
individuals to set up public accounts that others can subscribe to, similar to
the microblogging feature of having followers but without a word limit.
Journalists and scholars have since set up accounts and
attracted sizeable followings on WeChat.
"Our information management does not allow for any
blank space. It would be regulated later or sooner, and it is only a matter of
time," said Hu Yong, professor in the School of Journalism and
Communication at Peking University and an expert on the Internet.
The public accounts have created a new venue for information-sharing,
and now "the government needs to block the content which it deems
'harmful,'" Hu said.
Compared to its response to microblogging, Beijing has
reacted faster to WeChat and similar services. Government agencies and state
media have set up public accounts and censors remove accounts deemed offensive.
___
Associated Press Technology Writer Youkyung Lee in Seoul
and researcher Yu Bing in Beijing contributed to this report.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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