China city tightens internet control
A Chinese city planned to censor online chatroom exchanges and ban anonymous postings after residents used the internet to organise a mass protest against a chemical plant, Chinese media reported.Under a new city regulation, online users would have to...
A Chinese city planned to censor online chatroom exchanges and ban anonymous postings after residents used the internet to organise a mass protest against a chemical plant, Chinese media reported.
Under a new city regulation, online users would have to use their real names when posting messages on more than 100,000 websites registered in Xiamen, a port city in southeastern coastal Fujian province, the Beijing Youth Daily said.
"The names registered must be the same as the ones on your identity card," it quoted an unnamed government official as saying, adding postings would be screened in advance of being posted and any unacceptable material would be blocked.
Internet censorship is common in China, where the government employs an elaborate system of filters and tens of thousands of human monitors to survey its 140 million internet users' surfing habits, surgically clipping sensitive content.
Last month, thousands of protesters wearing gas masks and holding banners marched through Xiamen, demanding the government scrap plans to build a chemical plant some denounced as an "atomic bomb" threatening the seaside environment.
Under a new city regulation, online users would have to use their real names when posting messages on more than 100,000 websites registered in Xiamen, a port city in southeastern coastal Fujian province, the Beijing Youth Daily said.
"The names registered must be the same as the ones on your identity card," it quoted an unnamed government official as saying, adding postings would be screened in advance of being posted and any unacceptable material would be blocked.
Internet censorship is common in China, where the government employs an elaborate system of filters and tens of thousands of human monitors to survey its 140 million internet users' surfing habits, surgically clipping sensitive content.
Last month, thousands of protesters wearing gas masks and holding banners marched through Xiamen, demanding the government scrap plans to build a chemical plant some denounced as an "atomic bomb" threatening the seaside environment.