China has just banned anonymity
In yet another demonstration of the Communist Party’s iron grip on society, it has just announced new rules regulating participation on the internet: from 1 October, online anonymity will be completely banned, while providers of any type of service must prevent anonymity and retain all the data of those who refuse to give their personal details. The identity of anybody participating online must be fully verifiable.
Leading sites such as Weibo or WeChat, already have a government-mandated real-name policy, and the same applies to acquiring a cellphone number. Tieba, the Baidu-owned forum that started some insurgent nationalist movements, was also forced to comply with that policy a few months ago. Now, moreover, the measure will be mandatory for all online services regardless of their size, and there will also be an explicit law holding companies accountable for their possible noncompliance.
In addition to the ban on the use of virtual private networks (VPNs) which I have already talked about, all access providers and application stores must remove and prevent the use of all tools that provide anonymity. Besides that, the obligation of cloud computing companies to store all their contents in the country is another element in the progressive move toward total control in Xi Jinping’s China is taking on unprecedented dimensions, much harsher than those his predecessor, Hu Jintao, and which increasingly resemble the dystopic scenario described by George Orwell in “1984”.
Specifically, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) bans the following online behaviors:
- Opposing the principles of the constitution of China
- Endangering national security, revealing state secrets, subverting state power, and undermining national reunification
- Damaging national honor and interests
- Inciting national hatred, ethnic discrimination, and undermining national unity
- Undermining the state’s policies on religion or promoting cults and feudal superstitions
- Spreading rumors or disrupting social order
- Spreading obscenity, pornography, violence, or terror, or abetting a crime
- Insulting or slandering others and infringing upon the lawful rights and interests of others
- Violating any other laws and regulations
These extremely vague rules basically give the government carte blanche to decide what people can and cannot say online. The inevitably forthcoming China’s global economic leadership is not going to be a good thing, and will see the Communist Party retain an indisputable control over the country and its citizens, leading them in the direction it sees fit, whether anybody likes it or not. A scenario that is obviously very unattractive for anyone who believes in values such as democracy or fundamental rights, but that is, without a doubt, where China is headed.
The future leader of the global economy plays by very different rules to the West and exerts a strong influence on other countries: many leaders around the world envy the Chinese government’s control over its population, and would like to implement similar measures — internet control, anonymity, censorship of certain content — justifying this by the supposed threats of terrorism, declining moral standards or protecting minors.
We should be very concerned about the direction the upcoming leading economy is heading in curtailing human rights. Perhaps we should be more worried that China’s approach is seen as positive by people in other countries and a temptation to the governments of supposed democracies.
(En español, aquí)
