By Elaine Kurtenbach
Shanghai - Authorities have ordered all China-based websites and blogs to register or be closed down, in the latest effort by the communist government to police the unruly world of cyberspace.
Commercial publishers and advertisers can face fines of up to one million yuan (about R850 000) for failing to register, according to documents posted on the website of the ministry of information industry.
Private, noncommercial bloggers or websites must register the complete identity of the person responsible for the site, it said. The ministry, which has set a June 30 deadline for compliance, said 74 percent of all sites had already registered.
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'The Internet has profited many people but it also has brought many problems, such as sex' "The Internet has profited many people but it also has brought many problems, such as sex, violence and feudal superstitions and other harmful information that has seriously poisoned people's spirits," the MII website said in explaining the new rules.
All media in China is controlled by the state, though limits on the Internet have tended to lag behind as advances in technology outstripped Beijing's ability to keep tabs on users and service providers.
The government has long required all major commercial websites to register and take responsibility for Internet content. But blogs, web forums, chat rooms and other virtual venues have been harder to police.
Now, however, the government has developed a new system to track down and close those caught violating the rules, the ministry said.
"There's a 'Net Crawler System' that will monitor the sites in real time and search each web address for its registration number," said one document listing questions and answers about the new rules. "It will report back to the MII if it finds a site thought to be unregistered."
The press advocacy group Reporters Without Borders protested the new rules, saying they would force people with dissenting opinions to shift websites overseas, where mainland Chinese users might be unable to access them due to government censorship filters.
The Paris-based group said that in May, many bloggers in China received email messages telling them to register to avoid having their blogs declared illegal.
"Those who continue to publish under their real names on sites hosted in China will either have to avoid political subjects or just relay the Communist Party's propaganda," the rights group said. "This decision will enable those in power to control online news and information much more effectively." - Sapa-AP
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