DIGITAL LIFE

China: Regulator promises greater political control over the Internet

In Qiushi, PCC's bimonthly journal on political theory, Zhuang Rongwen reaffirms the party's leadership in cyberspace governance and commits itself to promote the thinking of Xi, the most powerful Chinese leader of the last decades.Zhuang has been leading the China Cyberspace Administration since last month, which controls the content available to more than 800 million Chinese Internet users and exercises vigilance over the companies in the industry.The article was broadcast after a meeting between the Chinese leadership to discuss ideological work and propaganda, and is held every five years.Under the direction of Xi Jinping, Chinese authorities have already tightened control over the network, silencing even moderately critical voices, in a space formerly considered the freest in the country.In the article, Zhuang promises to promote "positive energy" and suppress "negative ideological tendencies," which include "distorting" the historical versions of the party, state or army, or "denying" the leadership of the CCP and the socialist system.Zhuang said that the companies in the industry will be "strictly" responsible for content management and promised to accelerate the establishment of a national platform covering all firms in the industry and an emergency management platform for public opinion in cyberspace."The Internet has become the main battlefield and front line for propaganda and public opinion," says Zhuang."To take control of ideological work, we do not only need the driving force of party members and editors and journalists, but we must also use the masses and the Internet," he adds.
Zhang urges Internet users to "mobilize positive energy" and "educate" one another on the regulation of online behavior, "to clean up the environment of cyberspace."The article refers to several ideas of Xi Jinping, including "creating a clean and fair Internet" and the notion of "cyberspace sovereignty", which defines the Internet as essential for political stability and national security.In a speech in 2013, Xi accused "Western anti-China forces" of using the Internet to attack the country."Winning the battle on the internet battlefield is crucial to the security of our country's ideology and regime," he said.Facebook, Twitter or WhatsApp are blocked in China, but the country has its own social networks - the Wechat or the Weibo - which have hundreds of millions of users.The authorities have also increased censorship over content that they consider "vulgar" or that runs counter to socialist values. Since last year, regulators have been punishing web surfers for online reviews, distributors and platforms.In the second quarter of this year, China's Cyberspace Administration closed 1,888 e-portals and 720,000 accounts on Chinese social networks for "illegal" content.Earlier this month, a draft regulation issued by the regulator proposed banning from the Chinese Internet all foreigners who promote religion in the country and ban the online transmission of religious activities.



Lusa