China and bloggers

Not surprisingly Communist China wants to regulate online websites and blogs. A tyranny in order to survive has to maintain tight control over it's population. The last thing the powers to be in Bejiing want is free expression of differing political beliefs.

Hat tip to Michelle Malkin at http://michellemalkin.com/archives/002668.htm

The link to the whole article can be found at- http://www.guardian.co.uk/china/story/0,7369,1501184,00.html


China orders bloggers to register with government
Associated PressTuesday June 7, 2005

The Chinese authorities have ordered all weblogs and websites in the country to register with the government or face closure in Beijing's latest attempt to control online dissent.

Commercial publishers and advertisers could be fined up to 1m yuan (£66,000) for failing to register, according to documents on the Chinese information industry ministry's website.

Private bloggers or websites must register the complete identity of the person responsible for the site, and the ministry - which has set a June 30 deadline for compliance - said 74% of all sites had already registered.

"The internet has profited many people, but it also has brought many problems, such as sex, violence, feudal superstitions and other harmful information that has seriously poisoned people's spirits," the ministry said in an explanation of the new rules.

All public media in China is controlled by the state, but limits on the internet have tended to lag behind advances in technology that hindered Beijing's ability to keep tabs on users and service providers.

In the latest move, information industry ministry computers will monitor sites in real time and search for their registration numbers, reporting back if a site is unregistered.

China has more than 87m internet users - the world's second largest online population after the US.