More restrictions from China…
The Chinese government has announced plans to police web forums, chat rooms and blogs alongside other websites.
Websites in China have long been required to be officially registered.
The authorities are now determined that blogs should also be brought under state control.
Private bloggers must register the full identity of the person responsible for the sites, the Chinese Ministry of Information Industry (MII) said.
All blogs and websites must be registered by 30 June.
[Source: BBC News]
This follows a similar move by the Bahraini government in April.
The purpose behind such moves is an obvious attempt by the governments to keep a leash on bloggers, track everyone and hold them accountable for their opinions.
I hope we don’t see other countries following suit and imposing such restrictions on bloggers.
what about the websites hosted outside China? These websites can’t be under their control. There are always ways to get around these restrictions.
satchel, there is still the idea that people inside china will not be able to see these website…
China is a unique case. Unlike Bahrain, China can deflect international criticism. It has more cards to play. Additionally, unless all its websites are in English (which I doubt) they’ve effectively silenced a significant portion of thier population, both from saying anything or from reading anything.
The other question is how effective is this technology that they are boasting about?
Satchel, exactly as Zizou said, they can’t control those sites but they can block them from within China.
DIB, I agree. China has more cards in it’s hands.
They’ve been blocking and shutting down sites for a long time now, and not much can be done by anyone.