China’s top internet watchdog has banned 11 specific online activities under strict new rules for multiplatform content creators taking effect later this year.
Rolling out the new regulations last week, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said they aimed to prevent the spread of rumours and posts that could incite public anger, antagonism or social discrimination.
The prohibited content includes posts fabricating topics to confuse the public, spreading fake or speculative information, “maliciously collecting and rehashing negative information” or “recycling old news to mislead the public”.
The CAC said these online tactics were often used to incite public emotion, stir up social antagonism or trigger regional discrimination and division.
The “Provisions on the Management of Multichannel Distribution Services for Internet Information Content” will take effect on September 1.
The regulations also ban minors under 16 from hosting live streams, while those between 16 and 18 must undergo age verification and obtain parental or guardian consent before entering the field.
In addition, top e-commerce operators must overhaul their workflows and tighten controls on everything from product selection to after-sales care, to “effectively address the chaos of false marketing and illegal sales”.
Meanwhile, “Zhejiang Xuanchuan” – the official new-media account of the Zhejiang provincial publicity department and one of the most active authoritative party media outlets – has urged officials to proactively use the internet as their “research tool” to better identify the latest public concerns, including “engaging in casual conversations” to understand popular sentiment.
China’s internet had become “an amplifier of social emotions” and problems “won’t disappear just because we ignore them”, it cautioned.
In a related development, internet police have punished two web users for cyberbullying a village official as part of a crackdown on similar cases, an initiative spearheaded by the Ministry of Public Security’s Cybersecurity Bureau.
The bureau said on June 2 that it had investigated 15 cases of online bullying, and imposed administrative penalties on two web users for posting “derogatory and mocking comments” about a grass-roots official. The official was pictured wearing golden earrings as she tearfully spoke to reporters about devastating floods in her village.
The bureau’s announcement followed reports from Chinese media about the cyberbullying suffered by the Communist Party secretary of Longchihe village, located in Shimen county of central Hunan province.
Days of heavy rain triggered severe floods and landslides in Shimen county last month, killing at least six people and affecting over 100,000.
Longchihe party secretary Xiang Jinyuan and her colleagues had reportedly been working around the clock for more than a week to notify residents of door-to-door evacuations, resettling them and arranging supplies.
While describing the devastating conditions on camera, Xiang broke down in tears – only to be mocked online over her earrings.
However, despite some sarcastic comments, most internet users expressed sympathy and support for the visibly exhausted official, noting that it was common for middle-aged rural women to wear gold jewellery.
Xiang later clarified that the earrings were gold-plated and cost less than 100 yuan (US$14).
State news agency Xinhua reported on June 2 that the cyber police had vowed to press ahead with their “Clean Internet” campaign, focusing on online bullying, trolls and rumour-mongering.
The Ministry of Emergency Management in Beijing and several official media outlets have also weighed in, strongly condemning cyberbullying and expressing their support for grass-roots officials.
In a May 25 post on its official social media page, the ministry noted that every emergency response directive was carried out by “frontline cadres wading through mud and water”, hailing them as the rescue system’s crucial “nerve endings” and “first responders”.
It also urged the public to focus on “the mud on their legs and their bloodshot eyes” rather than “nitpicking over their earrings”.
Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily published a commentary on May 26, saying that while public criticism and scrutiny were welcome, “malicious speculation and vicious cyberbullying” would be firmly rejected.
“The flood can destroy houses and roads. Such malicious attacks hiding behind screens are invisible disasters that are equally destructive,” the article said.
Such “distorted scrutiny” ignored the circumstances, it added, noting that “malicious speculation is unfair to those who actually do the work”.