In what is being seen worldwide as yet more government censorship, the Chinese technology ministry has issued measures requiring any Chinese citizen who wants to set up a website to meet regulators and produce ID.
The measures are intended to “tackle online pornography” according to the government, however privacy activists have condemned the move as yet another attempt to curb free speech in the communist superpower.
The number of Chinese websites being registered overseas has now increased as people try and find ways to circumvent the new controls on the country’s 380 million internet users.
The technology ministry said that website operators would have to submit identity cards and photographs of themselves, as well as meeting regulators before new domain names would be registered.
It’s well known however that Chinese citizens are regularly one-step ahead of government regulators on matters such as these.
The Chinese government has a long history of internet censorship including censoring worldwide press websites during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, something the International Olympic Commission said could not happen in order for China to host the games.
Source: BBC
