China Hopes to Kiss Online Anonymity Goodbye
“Long Live Insubordination” (Indonesian)
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In a recent statement issued by the Chinese Government, a familiar tone of censorship drowned out what officials claimed to be concern for safety and peace in the “democratic dictatorship“. Cited throughout the statement were concerns revolving around unofficial accounts of domestic and foreign leaders (including President Obama and Vladimir Putin), as well as accounts that disseminate false information to the public, promote “vulgar culture” and publish “false news”. More specific examples are then highlighted:
” Some name and [avatars] contain obscene porn content, even flagrant enrollment of prostitutes; some profiles [participate] in the spread storm fear, and gambling, and involved HIV, illegal information, as “firearms arms dealer”, and ” Country Casino “; contrary to public morality, promote vulgarity, some outright secession, undermining national unity; promote cults and superstition.“
In order to put an end to the revolving door of misinformation in China, the government has issued orders that internet companies should “implement the main responsibilities” of managing the deletion and suspension of an account, should the user be found violating the newly imposed accuracy and morality rules. The details on how the Internet companies are to abide by these rules remains unsaid, but are suggested:
“Meanwhile, enterprises should protect user information and privacy of individual citizens, establish a sound mechanism reported receiving disposal, and consciously accept social supervision.”
What exactly constitutes a “sound mechanism” remains unspecified, however one could guess that companies will be more likely to implement community reporting for inaccurate and “vulgar” comments. The implementation of the new internet regulation laws will take effect next month, and while social media sites like Google, Facebook and Twitter still are blocked, local websites still remain up…for now at least.
Author’s note: The link of the official statement included is in Chinese, and was translated through Google and mdbg.net