Chinese local police may soon be able to censor news of disasters
Draft law comes at a time of growing public frustration with lax safety and poor accountability for natural and man-made calamities
China’s county-level police will be able to censor internet coverage of natural and man-made disasters, according to a revised draft of the country’s policing law that the Chinese Public Security Bureau released late on Thursday.
China reports a high rate of accidents and natural disasters every year due its vast geography and its relatively low public safety and building standards. The government has pledged to improve the country’s poor safety record.
Incidents are often met with an outpouring of public grief and anger that the authorities seek to contain using internet controls and state-media coverage focusing on successful relief work.
The provisional adjustment to China’s policing law, posted on the security bureau’s website, would grant county-level police new powers when dealing with disasters in their jurisdiction.
“When necessary”, local police will be allowed to “implement internet controls” if approved by a province-level public security bureau, the draft said.