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.
(Xinhua News Agency September 26, 2005)