Nicknames like Obama and Putin banned on Internet in China
6 Feb 2015 12:55 AM GMT
Fake and parody accounts pretending to be government organisations, celebrities and officials are banned, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said, as are nicknames that appear to advertise cults or pornography, or that damage state security.
CAC further said that the new restrictions were aimed at users, who took inappropriate online names such as Putin and Obama, promoted “vulgar culture,” and committed fraud by pretending to be Communist Party officials. The new rules also require users of blogs and chat rooms to register their names with operators and promise in writing to avoid challenging the Communist political system.
“The rules require netizens to use registered account names on virtually all platforms, including blogs, social networking tools and messaging applications,” Xu Feng, director of the administration’s mobile network management bureau was quoted as saying by the state-run China Daily. Notably, the announcement comes on a day when the US has blamed China of undermining open internet and expressed concern over the increasing curbs put on American companies in the Communist nation.
China has the world’s biggest population of Internet users with 649 million people online, most of them operating through the mobile phones.
The authorities have also promised to set up a complaint mechanism, giving users a chance to reapply for their accounts if they were shut down.
CAC further said that the new restrictions were aimed at users, who took inappropriate online names such as Putin and Obama, promoted “vulgar culture,” and committed fraud by pretending to be Communist Party officials. The new rules also require users of blogs and chat rooms to register their names with operators and promise in writing to avoid challenging the Communist political system.
“The rules require netizens to use registered account names on virtually all platforms, including blogs, social networking tools and messaging applications,” Xu Feng, director of the administration’s mobile network management bureau was quoted as saying by the state-run China Daily. Notably, the announcement comes on a day when the US has blamed China of undermining open internet and expressed concern over the increasing curbs put on American companies in the Communist nation.
China has the world’s biggest population of Internet users with 649 million people online, most of them operating through the mobile phones.
The authorities have also promised to set up a complaint mechanism, giving users a chance to reapply for their accounts if they were shut down.
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