Beijing clamps down on microblogs

Beijing clamps down on microblogs

By Arthur Weinreb Dec 17, 2011

Beijing - Users of microblogs such as Sina Weibo will be required to reveal their true identities before being allowed to post messages on social media sites. According to the Beijing government, this is to protect society from being harmed.

Yesterday, the Beijing city government instituted rules for microblogs. The most prominent of these microblogs is Sina Weibo that operates much the same way Twitter does.Although anyone will still be able to read microblog posts, no one will be allowed to send a message or upload a photograph unless the administrators of the site know the poster's true identity. Members of these site will still be able to use screen names when posting.An official with the Beijing government, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Xinhua,

The new rules are aimed at protecting web users' interests and improving credibility on the web.

The rules were issued by the public security bureau, the communication administration, the Internet information office and the government press office.Tong Liqiang, the executive deputy director of the Beijing Internet Information Office (BII0) said,

...the spread of rumors and fake information as well as Internet fraud on the microblog platform have harmed the interests of the public.

The rules are to prevent illegal activity such as leaking state secrets, instigating discrimination or ethnic resentment and instigating illegal rallies that disrupt social order.

There are approximately 280 million people who blog on Sina Weibo and the real reason the rules were enacted was to clamp down on protests and demonstrations that are illegal in China. According to the Wall Street Journal, government officials became "spooked" by the Arab spring and the role that social media played in what took place in Egypt and other countries. But Chinese authorities are reluctant to close social media sites down completely because it is one of the only ways that ordinary Chinese are able to let off steam.By putting these controls in place, the government of Beijing is hoping to prevent occurrences such as what recently took place in the Village of Wukan, located in the south of China.More than 5,000 villagers, armed with farm implements, became involved in a standoff with over 1,000 police officers dressed in riot gear. The villagers were angry because of illegal land expropriations, embezzlement of funds by local officials and by the arrests of four representatives of the village.According to The Epoch Times, the anger began after someone posted a message on Sina Weibo. None of the alleged wrongdoing had been reported by the regular media.The microblogging sites in Beijing have been given three months to compile lists of the real names of those who publish on these sites.

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