China’s Cyberspace Regulator Revises Laws to Control Internet Commenting
China’s cyberspace regulator said on Wednesday it would revise its rules that would require operators of online and social media accounts to strengthen the review and management of comments left on their pages. The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said in a statement that account operators should set up and improve their systems to review comments, and be ready to report illegal and undesirable information to the administrator.
Manufacturers and operators of social accounts that provide services to track comments are also required to check the credibility of account users making those comments, reasonably set up administrative rights and provide technical support, according to the statement.
The regulator did not specify penalties for violations.
In June, the CAC proposed an addition to the existing rules, urging the platforms to take measures against the owners of public accounts that spread “illegal or bad content”, such as issuing warnings or deleting their posts, and to report such incidents to the administrator in a timely manner.
The first rules date back to 2017.
The announcement comes as Chinese authorities tighten their policing of the internet and what topics the public is allowed to discuss. Social networks such as WeChat and Weibo often block or delete posts and comments.
The amendments to the existing laws will come into effect from December 15, it said.
Earlier this year, the cyberspace regulator said rules requiring data transfers for security checks would take effect from September 1, marking the first time the new regulatory framework would affect hundreds, if not thousands, of Chinese companies. . .
Details of a new mandatory security review by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), which would be used to determine whether large amounts of Chinese user data held by private organizations can be sent overseas, were also finalized. and it was published by the administrator who announced it in a statement on its official WeChat account at the time.
© Thomson Reuters 2022
