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China Tightens Internet Restrictions

   VOA News 23 February 2010
   People  surf  the  Internet  inside  an  Internet cafe in Dunhuang, in
   northwest China's Gansu province (File)

Photo: AP

   People  surf  the  Internet  inside  an  Internet cafe in Dunhuang, in
   northwest China's Gansu province (File)

   China has tightened its controls on Internet use, requiring anyone who
   wants  to  set  up  a  Web  site  to  meet  directly  with  government
   regulators.
   The  new  rules,  published by the Technology Ministry this week, also
   require  Web  site  owners to submit their identity cards and personal
   photos.
   A ministry statement says the measures will help the country deal with
   online  pornography.   But  human rights defenders say the regulations
   are just a new form of government censorship.
   China has about 380 million Internet users, the world's biggest online
   population.   The  government  carefully censors the Web to filter out
   sexually  explicit  or  violent  content,  as  well  as information it
   considers to be a challenge to the ruling Communist Party.
   The  controls  announced  this  week lift a freeze that the Technology
   Ministry imposed in December on new Web site registrations.
   Chinese authorities are holding talks with Internet giant Google about
   whether  the U.S.-based company can continue operating in that country
   without respecting the government's censorship rules.
   Google  threatened to withdraw from China last month after discovering
   what  it  said  were China-based cyber attacks on the company's e-mail
   accounts.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP.

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