Minimizing Information Clutter, China Will Tighten Internet Censorship

Illustration (Pixabay)

JAKARTA - China plans to tighten censorship of information published online. This step was taken to minimize information confusion such as hoaxes and misinformation in cyberspace.

Launching the Japan Today page, the Cyberspace Administration of China (GAC) is making a number of improvements to the web browser service for mobile users. This policy will again tighten the information censorship rules that have been implemented in the last few years.

The GAC will give browser providers two weeks to carry out a self-check. The examination focuses on a number of issues, including spreading rumors, using sensational headlines and publishing content that violates the core values of socialism.

The campaign will initially focus on the eight most influential mobile browsers in China, including those operated by Huawei, Alibaba Group and Xiaomi, according to CAC. Other browsers include Tencent's QQ platform, Qihoo's 360, Oppo and Sogou.

"For some time, the mobile browser has grown in uncivilized ways ... and has become a gathering place and an amplifier for the spread of chaos by 'the media itself'," said CAC, emphasizing the words it used in its 2018 restrictions on media accounts social news from an independent news provider.

Browsers should perform self-checks and repairs from October 27 to November 9, said the GAC. "After the fix, mobile browsers that still have extraordinary problems will be handled strictly according to laws and regulations until the related business is banned," CAC warned.

In recent years, China has introduced laws restricting media outlets, surveillance measures for media sites and a rolling campaign to remove content deemed unacceptable.

The researchers also believe that 1 percent to 14 percent of China's 850 million Internet users regularly use virtual private networks (VPNs) to access blocked foreign sites in China by masking their internet behavior and routing it through other countries.

Where according to a Bloomberg report, netizens often use the Qihoo 360's Tuber and sgreennet.com platforms which offer Chinese users the opportunity to legally access sites such as Facebook, Google and Twitter. It's just that with this new rule, it will certainly be an indication if China doesn't want to loosen up its internet controls.