People in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region observe a Muslim holiday. (Photo : Getty Images)
Seven individuals were arrested in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region for spreading extremist and illegal content online.
The arrested individuals were apprehended after information was obtained by the local police. The activity was done as part of the region's efforts on counterterrorism through the Xinjiang cyberspace administration office.
The office aims to stop the dissemination of material related to terrorism, misinformation, and religious extremism and separatism.
All seven people were found guilty of propagating content that promoted terrorism and anti-government sentiments. The content was aimed to destabilize the government.
The arrested individuals started online activity since December last year. Their ages varied from 21 years old to 34 years old.
The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region is adopting its own version of China's anti-terrorism law and has implemented rules on handling cases of terrorist nature.
Xinjiang's anti-terrorism drive calls for coordination of agencies in the provincial, prefecture and city levels. Coordination will be done among the police, local militia, health and telecommunication departments.
China passed its anti-terrorism law to dissolve all acts that will lead to the destabilization of the government and activities that are precipitated by religious beliefs which threaten to harm people's rights.
"To fight terrorism, China will deploy necessary means for law enforcement, but at the same time, the law enforcement process will be regulated, so as to prevent it from hurting citizens' and organizations' legal rights," said Li Shouwei, a deputy director of the criminal law department under the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee legislative affairs commission.
The director clarified that the law is non-discriminatory and does not tolerate the abuse of power, as what the anti-terrorism law stated.
According to the law, "No discrimination based on regional, ethnic or religious affiliation shall be allowed."
Since many of anti-terrorism propaganda is spread online, the director clarified that the law will not hamper people's right to free speech.
He said that the law will not "install backdoors to infringe intellectual property rights or citizens freedom of speech on the Internet and their religious freedom."
