China: Real Name Registration for Micro-blogging

The Beijing city government introduced a new set of regulations on December 16, 2011 to control the flow of information in micro-blogging platforms. The Beijing Municipal Regulations Concerning the Development and Control of Microblogs [zh] (English version via Bill Bishop) requires users to register their real identity before posting messages on micro-blogging platforms or they will be in the read-only mode. Micro-blogging service providers have to verify the identity of their users within 3 months.

Forbidden Content

In addition, all users are forbidden from distributing messages that:

1. violate the principles of the constitution;
2. endanger national security, disclose state secrets, incite sedition of state, destroy national unity;
3. harm the nation's honor and interest;
4. incite ethnic hatred, discrimination and unity;
5. against the nation's religion policy, propagate religious cults and superstition;
6. spread rumors, disrupt public order and stability;
7. spread obscenity, gambling information, violence, horror or information that induce criminal activities;
8. defamatory comments or information that violate other's legal rights;
9. incite illegal assembly, demonstration, protest and gathering that disrupt public order;
10. illegal civic groups’ activities;
11. content forbidden by any other law and regulation.

Identity verification code

According to the Beijing authority's press conference, a user has to verify his/her real identity to a government designated authority. The authority would then issue a verify code for the user to register his/her micro-blog account.

The China Media Project has translated the local news story and Professor Zhen Jiang's comments on the regulation. Zhen argues that the regulation does not have legal ground.

Meanwhile, the state propaganda China Central Television has produced a number of news features in support of the micro-blogging real name registration system. Criticisms against the regulation are deleted in matter of seconds in Sina Weibo.

5 comments

  • […] China: Real Name Registration for Micro-bloggingGlobal Voices OnlineThe China Media Project has translated the local news story and Professor Zhen Jiang's comments on the regulation. Zhen argues that the regulation does not have legal ground. Meanwhile, the state propaganda China Central Television has produced a … […]

  • […] China: Real Name Registration for Micro-blogging – Global Voices … Beijing city government introduced a set of regulation, Beijing Municipal Regulations Concerning the Development and Control of Microblogs [zh] (English version via Bill Bishop), to control information flow in micro-blogging … […]

  • […] regulation of real name registration for micro-blogging platform has extended from Beijing to Guangzhou and […]

  • Hi.! my name is Wayne Michaels and I am from America and introducing this civil blogging site called The Stanford Cornerstone at http://www.kingpawntillo.com

    We hope to get many Chinese visitors and we love how China is expanding though many disagreements we still hope for the best.

    Here is a story of The Stanford Cornerstone and when it first started we had no censorship and what happened afterwards.

    Blogging American style.

    I have been blogging on many blogging sites across the world for the last four years, you might recognize my screen name…maybe not. In each and every blogging site I have found that each site has it’s own personality with the regular bloggers and some time there is that debate about civility or incivility which is of course an opinion. Recently the Stanford Cornerstone http://www.kingpawntillo.com went through an experiment in which Robert W. Stanford a well known civil rights activist in the Modesto Area of California.

    He wanted to experiment with a blog site without rules other than no porn allowed. It was a constitutional blog..freedom of speech,freedom of expression.

    What a Wild Wild West that blogging site became. Unfortunately the sock puppets out numbered the actual bloggers.

    That blogging site has calmed down from it’s beginnings and now has three moderators. It’s mellow and a nice place to drink your morning coffee and read the blogs. I would suggest it to everyone.

    Also since this blog is for citizens all over the world I would like to invite you there since a lot of the bloggers are from all over the world and if you need any assistance in information about the Central Valley of California..you can ask me or write a blog and post it on the Cornerstone.

    I will be recommending this blog site to all of the bloggers on the Cornerstone.

    Wayne.

  • Alex

    what’s the point ? they can still use proxies, openvpn etc to use other blogs located outside of China.

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