China’s 500 million plus netizens face further restrictions

DHARAMSHALA, December 31: China has announced new regulations which will further tighten restrictions over the use of internet for its 500 million plus netizens.

The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China’s rubber stamp parliament, on Friday announced the new law requiring users to use their real names when registering with an online provider or mobile carrier.

Providers will also be required to censor online material, remove posts with "illegal information," and report them to authorities. The authorities then have the legal right to halt publication and to punish those who posted the illegal information.

The state-run Xinhua News Agency said the regulations aim to “safeguard national security and social public interests,” and will also “strengthen management of information released by users” by instantly stopping the transmission of “illegal information” once it is spotted and by taking relevant measures.

The new rule will particularly hit hard users of Chinese micro-blogging platforms like Sina Weibo, which has been used by numerous anonymous bloggers over the past year to expose Chinese officials for covering up wrongdoing, hiding ill-gotten wealth, and carrying on illicit affairs.

Speaking to the Los Angeles Times, Michael Anti, a Beijing-based critic of Web censorship, expressed his belief that the current pushback on the Web reflects paranoia over incoming President Xi Jinping's crackdown on official corruption. Local officials could be pressuring propaganda departments to curb freedom of speech online, he said.

The latest internet regulations come amid a crackdown on virtual private networks, or VPNs, which web users, especially foreign businesses, need to get around China’s so-called “Great Firewall.” Although Chinese officials have said there has been no change in the policy toward VPN providers, which they say must be registered with the government, Chinese netizens, as well as foreign companies and journalists say the crackdown is preventing them from doing their jobs.

VPNs are generally used by web users in China to access blocked websites such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter.

Beijing has also closely observed the Arab Spring and steadily stepped up censorship, especially after the role social media played in protests that brought down governments in Egypt and Tunisia.

In Tibet, where over 80 Tibetans have set themselves on fire in protest against China’s rule in this year alone, internet and other modes of communication are restricted and closely monitored. Several Tibetans have also been arrested and disappeared for allegedly sending out information on the self-immolation protests over the internet and phone.

Our sources in exile tell us that in many places of eastern Tibet, which has been at the heart of the recent spike in protests, all conventional modes of connection are either not working or people are too scared of talking.

phayul.com