The Cyberspace Administration of China, the mainland's Internet regulator, posted a new rule on its website that would require users of the Internet to register online using their real names. The regulation would cover those who use blogs, instant messaging services, discussion forums, comment sections and several other related services. The move is to prevent the spreading of any type of content that seeks to challenge national interest and the socialist government system.
China's cyberspace is now one of the most heavily censored in the world. Controls became even more tightened since President Xi Jinping came into power in November 2012.
China now has 649 million Internet users which is higher than the recorded 618 million in 2013. Under the new law, these users would still be allowed to use aliases on messaging sites. However, they will be forbidden to use pseudonyms or pictures which are deemed as misrepresentative, inappropriate, or threatening to national security.
"The measures will take a long time to take effect given the number of Internet users that China has," said Wang Sixin, a professor of media law at the Communication University of China. "But it shows the importance of the Internet to the government and the determination of authorities to purify the online space."
There are nine categories that are included in the restriction. These are defamation, obscenities and violence, spreading rumors, disturbing social stability, harming religious policy, instigating racial hatred and discrimination, hurting national honor and interests, leaking state secrets, and harming national security. Xu Feng, director of the mobile Internet bureau of China's Cyberspace Administration said that Internet service providers have the responsibility to review online games, users' headshots and their taglines. When an account is found to have violated the rules, it should be instantly deleted and reported to the country's cyberspace office. Xu added that those who would violate the regulations will be dealt with by related laws.
The administration had long been aware of the trend in the misuse of Internet usernames. Some mainlanders have usernames that depict the names of foreign leaders such as "Obama" and "Putin." There are even some who have usernames that tend to mislead the public as they seemed to appear as part of a government organization or a Communist Party group. So far, names such as "CCDI inspection team," "Firearm dealers," "Rural Casino," and "People's Daily" have been black listed by the Communist Party's top disciplinary body.
Other types of usernames that will be banned include those that could spread rumors to disturb social stability, have the purpose of defamation, or are related to terrorism, violence, gambling and pornography.
For the record, China's most popular messaging service known as Wexin now has more than 80 percent of its users with their real identity information registered. The new regulation would begin to take effect on March 1.
