The Chinese Internet regulator has decided to crackdown on news reporting based on social media. The move is a part of the government's so-called drive against fake news and rumor mongering.
In a statement obtained by Reuters on July 3, Sunday, the Cyberspace Administration of China said that online media cannot report any news collected from social media sites without the authorities' approval. Using hearsay to create news or use "conjecture and imagination" to twist the facts is prohibited, the statement added.
The regulator further said that every level of the cyberspace administration should essentially realize their management responsibility regarding Internet content. They should also reinforce supervision and investigation, thoroughly probe and deal with fake and fake news.
In fact, the regulator has also listed a number of fake news stories, which it said had recently circulated on the Internet. One of these fake stories is about a bus fire, The Wire reported.
Some time ago, China witnessed headlines such as "'Infant soup' made of babies' bodies has been available in Guangdong province " and "Six criminals escaped from a prison and then murdered 78 women and raped 16 in August." In August 2013, the Chinese government to set up the rumor-monitoring group with a veiw to deal with all such fraudulent news.
The government has been exercising extensive control over the Internet in the country from before. The latest move is, therefore, seen as an attempt to codify that policy in law.
At the same time, the report quoted Chinese officials saying that Internet restrictions such as blocking access to sites like Google and Facebook are necessary to ensure when the country and the world are confronted with increasing threats and spread of damaging rumors.
The international community, however, feels that such moves by the Chinese regulators are a part of the country's policy to keep foreign media and other companies under check. The recent banning of Apple Inc.'s iTune Movies and iBook Store is an evidence of increasing control of the government on foreign companies.
Consequently, the international community has continually raised its worries regarding China's overwhelming control over Internet access in the country. Many foreign governments as well as business groups have seemingly pointed to restrictions on the Internet as a broader trade issue.
Watch China's Internet censorship below: