The Chinese government is continuing its push for online censorship, announcing new regulations on Wednesday that require Internet users to register on certain sites with their real names.
The goal for the new rules is to keep people from using fake social media accounts to impersonate well-known people, with the government saying fake accounts have been used to damage society, according to PCWorld. The Cyberspace Administration of China, the country's top Internet regulator said in an online post that fake accounts have been created to impersonate public figures and mislead the public or release fake news.
"Some have impersonated a person's identity to infringe on their rights," the regulator added. "Some have been used to impersonate famous people, including foreign heads of state such as 'Putin', 'Obama.'"
The regulator added that the new rules would be used for blogs, microblogs, online discussions forms, instant-messaging services, news comment sections and similar services, the Wall Street Journal reported. The government will ban content that violates the law, threatens national security, involves national secrets, incites ethnic discrimination or hatred, or threatens national unity.
Internet users will have to provide their real names and personal information when they sign into different services. They can choose their own usernames and avatars as long as they don't include banned content.
Analysts believe the new regulations will not have several negative effects if they are strictly implemented, such as limiting free speech and causing problems for instance messaging services and discussion forums that come with a huge amount of duplicate accounts.
China has already banned Google, Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites that give people the chance to spread anti-government content, PCWorld reported. However, local sites can still operate if they censor and take down offensive content.
The government is standing behind the new rules, saying they are designed to keep users safe and promote a safe and healthy environment.
The new rules will go into effect on March 1, and users who violate them will be prosecuted by the relevant department.
