Roger

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China outlaws 'unhealthy' minnow news sites UPDATED

No gadflies on us, thank you

The Chinese government has set up a system of rules for news websites that will see small, independent providers shut down and 'unhealthy' news banned from the Web. UPDATE: Official press release text appended.

The rules, issued over the weekend by the Ministry of Information Industry and the State Council, China's Cabinet, will "standardize the management of news and information" in the country, according to Shanghai Daily, citing citing state media agency Xinhua.

The widely reported edict has not been published on any of the official English language news portals run by the government. [UPDATE: Official press release appended to this story.]

But according to Associated Press reports only "healthy and civilized news and information that is beneficial to the improvement of the quality of the nation, beneficial to its economic development and conducive to social progress" will be allowed, Xinhua said.

It added: "The sites are prohibited from spreading news and information that goes against state security and public interest."

Details of what will be banned were not provided in the edict but will likely become clear through prosecutions.

Shanghai Daily said the new rules require any online news publisher to have at least 10 million yuan ($US1.25 million) in registered capital and a staff of at least five professional news editors with no less than three years' working experience in the traditional media.

The rules also prevent any company that has been in trouble with online regulators within two years from providing online news, Shanghai Daily said.

The AP said the new rules supercede earlier edicts governing internet news. Those rules were issued in 2000, before internet access was common.

China now has an online population numbering over 103 million and cyber cafes providing off-the-street access to millions more, about 70 per cent of whom use the internet to gather news.

The new rules will "satisfy the public demand for receiving news and information from the Internet as well as safeguard public interest," AP said, citing Xinhua.

In some places like Shanghai, Internet cafes are already under strict controls, with users being required to present official identification to make monitoring easier.

Shanghai Daily, a large, quasi-official news agency, said the new rules on news content and news providers will "make online news more reliable as many small and unauthorized cyber news publishers will be phased out."

It noted that some rules remained unchanged in the new guidelines: online firms must register regularly, often every year, with national or province-level information offices; obscene and subversive content is forbidden; and comments written in online forums and the writer's IP (Internet Protocol) address must be saved for 60 days for possible use by government or police authorities.

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Shanghai Daily, the only English language daily newspaper in Shanghai, began actively publishing news in digital format only in August this year. Prior to that, its online footprint was a fee-based service that provided PDF copies of the newspaper.

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UPDATE: Official media outlet China.org has released a press release that contains details of the new regulations. That press release is below:

A new regulation on online news services was issued jointly on Sunday by the State Council Information Office (SCIO) and the Ministry of Information Industry. Under this regulation, online news sites that publish fabricated content, pornography or violence face severe punishment or even closure.

A spokesman for the SCIO said at a press conference on Sunday: "We need to better regulate the online news services with the emergence of so many unhealthy news stories that will easily mislead the public".

Online news services that have bulletin board systems (BBS) or provide short message service (SMS) notifications are also subject to the regulation.

The regulation also spells out that media attached to the central government or directly under provincial governments are not allowed to provide any stories to other online news sites without approval.

In fact, a temporary regulation on online news services was published as early as in November 2000. But the spokesman said: "It has lagged far behind the development of online news services in terms of technology, content and form. So it is necessary to have an updated version".

According to the Temporary Regulation of Internet Publishing Management, the following contents are prohibited in Internet publishing:

1. Information that goes against the basic principles set out in the Constitution;

2. Information that endangers national unification, sovereignty and territorial integrity;

3. Information that divulges state secrets, endangers national security, or is detrimental to the honor and interests of the State;

4. Information that incites hatred or discrimination among nationalities, harms the unity of the nationalities or destroys the customs of nationalities;

5. Information that preaches the teachings of evil cults or that promotes feudalistic and superstitious beliefs;

6. Information that disseminates rumors, disturbs social order, or undermines social stability;

7. Information that spreads pornography; promotes gambling, violence, or instigates crimes;

8. Information that insults or slanders other people, or infringes upon other people's legitimate rights and interests;

9. Information that endangers social morality or national cultures and traditions; and/or

10. Any other information as prohibited by law, administrative regulations, or national regulations.



The public is encouraged to help information departments at all levels to supervise news sites. Anyone who comes across unhealthy online stories can file a report at http://net.china.cn.