China is tightening its grip on the Internet, with new rules requiring users to provide their real names and banning content that opposes the country's political system, the Associated Press reports.
The new bans, according to technology companies, are part of the government's effort to block the use of virtual private networks that bypass Internet. They concern blogs, discussion forums and other discussion groups. Companies that provide Internet access are required to verify the identity of their subscribers. In fact, those who question state authority or national unity will lose their accounts - that is, access to the Internet.
China is home to the largest online population. According to the annual report, the number of Chinese online users has reached 649 million, of which 557 million access the Internet via mobile devices.
The number of Chinese users of micro-blogging services, such as Twitter, continued to decline for a second year, and in 2014 there were 32 million fewer users (-7.1%). This was preceded by a harsh government crackdown in 2013, reports the AP. Thus, at the end of 2014, the number of users of microblogging services was limited to 249 million.
On the contrary, a significant increase is observed in the use of mobile instant messaging services, especially the WeChat - users increased by 17.8% and reached 508 million - almost everyone who accesses the Internet from a mobile phone.
WeChat is a service from Tencent that, in addition to messaging, allows sharing information between circles of friends, online payments, games, and publishing content on public accounts that can be followed (as a “follower”). The Chinese government is said to control the dissemination of information through WeChat .
However, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube remain blocked in China. Beijing recently restricted access to Google services and intervened when it saw that VPNs could be used to bypass the ban.
The principle followed by the Chinese government is called "Internet Sovereignty," according to which each country reserves the right to control material published online within its borders.
Source: tech.in.gr
