Chinese Internet users have long criticized the use of the Great Firewall to block access to foreign sites. The system's creator was heavily mocked online when he himself got blocked by it. (Photo : Getty Images)
China is set to impose stricter restrictions on foreign websites with a new set of Internet laws being pushed by the government.
Under the proposed set of rules, Internet service providers operating in China are prohibited from connecting to websites whose domain addresses are hosted outside the country. Those who fail to comply would face a fine of up to 30,000 yuan ($4,621), CNBC reported. Erring ISP's will also be given public notices of their offense.
The new guideline is part of draft revisions to existing regulations on Internet domain name management. The full draft was posted on a government website on Monday for public commenting.
According to China University of Politics and Law analyst Zhu Wei, the new rules can be seen as an intermediate step that would pave the way for a more comprehensive law on Internet content.
Zhu added that the push for such new rules can be linked to growing concerns about china's national and ideological security.
However, Zhu also said that the proposed rules would be hard to implement without changes. He noted that even highly controlled search results could still potentially contain hidden links to sites coming from abroad, which can potentially cause problems for local search engine providers like Baidu.
Zhu also raised the potential negative impact of the rules if implemented, citing how it could cut China from global Internet access.
"I don't think the government will simply ban all overseas websites because it will kill off a lot of good material," he said.
The proposed new laws are the latest in a series of moves made by the Chinese government to enforce tighter control over the country's Internet access.
In January, the Cyberspace Administration of China released new rules requiring online news services to take down any content deemed to not "embrace the core values of socialism" and "safeguard public and national interests."
It was then followed by a new regulation made by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology banning any foreign-owned companies from engaging in online publication, The Wall Street Journal reported.
