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China’s internet censorship
ChinaPolitics

China’s internet watchdog to boost tip-offs to stamp out ‘illegal’ political content

  • Top internet regulator pledges to clean up politically related content, ‘safeguard’ security of online opinion
  • Regulators encourage internet users to report content deemed not in line with Beijing’s political or ideological norms

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China’s top internet regulator has pledged to clean up politically related content and “safeguard” the security of online opinion by enhancing a public tip-offs system. Photo: AFP
Sylvie Zhuangin Beijing
China’s top internet regulator has pledged to intensify its battle against “illegal” politically related content and tighten the country’s internet security through its system of tip-offs.

Tip-offs from the public are widely used on a range of China-based websites and social media to augment the country’s massive censorship apparatus.

“[We] must insist on politics as the highest command, and work hard on politically related tip-offs, and to improve our ability to inspect, analyse and carry out tip-off work from a political standpoint to effectively safeguard the security of online public opinion and ideologies,” read a summary of a meeting by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) on Monday, according to an article published by the office.

The meeting was hosted by the head of the office, Zhuang Rongwen.

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“[We] must pay equal attention to accepting tip-offs and effectively follow them up, step up regulations, strengthen the standardisation of the process, and strengthen the institution’s manpower,” the summary said.

Zhuang Rongwen, head of the Cyberspace Administration of China. Photo: Reuters
Zhuang Rongwen, head of the Cyberspace Administration of China. Photo: Reuters

Chinese regulators have encouraged all internet users to report content deemed not in line with Beijing’s political or ideological norms.

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According to the CAC’s illegal information reporting centre, an office tasked exclusively to handle reports on online content, internet users are encouraged to report on politically related content that includes attacks on the “two upholds” – party jargon that means everyone should “resolutely uphold” President Xi Jinping’s leadership and the Communist Party’s Central Committee.
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