China censorship sweep deletes more than 60,000 Internet accounts
China censorship sweep deletes more than 60,000 Internet
accounts
Reuters – Fri, 27 Feb, 2015
BEIJING (Reuters) - Some of China's largest Internet
companies deleted more than 60,000 online accounts because their names did not
conform to regulations due to take effect on Sunday, the top Internet regulator
said.
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, Tencent Holdings Ltd, Baidu
Inc, Sina Corp affiliate Weibo Corp and other companies deleted the accounts in
a cull aimed at "rectifying" online names, the Cyberspace
Administration of China (CAC) said.
The reasons for their removal included accusations of
being misleading, rumor mongering, links to terrorism, or involving violence,
pornography and other violations, the CAC said in a statement on its website
late on Thursday.
The purge is notable as a step toward China's government
locking down control over people's internet account names, an effort which
censors have struggled with in the past, despite numerous efforts to introduce
controls.
These failed attempts have included trying to force users
to register for online services using their real names.
The new regulations, which take effect on March 1 and
will also target real-name registration, were issued by the CAC, which was
formed last year and given power over all online content, something previously
divided between various state ministries.
"Previously, the real-name registration system
hasn't really been enforced," said Rogier Creemers, a researcher on
Chinese media law at the University of Oxford. "These rules essentially
impose a uniform and consolidated system for all online services requiring
accounts."
The measure also reflects China's tightening control of
the Internet, which has accelerated since President Xi Jinping took power in
early 2013.
Weibo, the country's biggest microblog platform, will
comply with the regulations and had a dedicated team to handle illegal
information, including account names, a spokesman told Reuters.
E-commerce giant Alibaba declined to comment beyond
highlighting a section of the CAC's statement on Alibaba's efforts to set up a
team to handle account name issues. Tencent, China's biggest social networking
and gaming company, and search leader Baidu were not available for immediate
comment.
Among the accounts removed were those purporting to
belong to state agencies, state media organizations and the East Turkestan
Islamic Movement, said the CAC. China has blamed ETIM for violent attacks, but
experts and rights groups have cast doubt on its existence as a cohesive group.
China operates one of the world's most sophisticated
online censorship mechanisms, known as the Great Firewall. Censors keep a grip
on what can be published online, particularly content seen as potentially
undermining the ruling Communist Party.
(Reporting by Paul Carsten; Editing by Robert Birsel)
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