People's Daily has called for a crackdown on text messages on the mainland by proposing the introduction of a real name registration system similar to the one used to control internet forums.
It dedicated a full page to the issue yesterday, calling on experts to support the idea. The move - coming as preparations for the all-important 17th party congress next month enter full swing - is apparently designed to curb the spread of political rumours as well as tackle rampant scams that spread through the mobile phone messages.
In a rare move, the newspaper, which is the most authoritive mouthpiece for the Communist Party, ran three pieces of commentary calling for regulations.
It said tens of thousands of people a year had fallen prey to fraudsters who used text messages to snare their victims.
The scammers usually send out messages about online shopping, lottery predictions, pornographic materials and discount air tickets to draw people into their schemes.
The newspaper said its investigation showed that there was no effective government agency or regulation to protect the public from harmful spam. It said the mainland should learn from Hong Kong's experience in legislating against such practice.
