China has unveiled tighter internet controls, requiring web users to register their names and legalising the deletion of posts or pages which are considered to contain illegal information.
The rules signal that the new leadership, headed by Communist party chief, Xi Jinping, will continue to muzzle the online chatter in a country where the internet offers a rare opportunity for debate. China's legislature approved the internet measures at a closing meeting of a five-day session.
Real-name registration will curtail the web's status as a freewheeling forum to complain, often anonymously, about corruption and official abuses. The government says the latest regulation is aimed at protecting web users' personal information and cracking down on abuses, such as junk email.
The measure will "ensure internet information security, safeguard the lawful rights and interests of citizens, legal entities or other organisations, and safeguard national security and social public interests", the official Xinhua news agency cited the regulation as stating.
The restrictions follow a series of corruption scandals among lower-level officials exposed by internet users, something the government has said it is trying to encourage.
Source: The Guardian
