○ A new regulation on Internet news services in China has sparked controversy
○ Experts see it as the latest effort by cyberspace authorities in the past year to regulate online platforms
○ But many we-media providers are worried that it will restrict their freedom to publish articles
China's new regulation on the administration of Internet news services, which comes into effect on June 1, made a splash on China's social media platforms when it was announced last week.
According to Article 5 of the regulation, any group or individual that wants to provide news to the public through websites, applications, forums, blogs, microblogs, public accounts, instant messaging tools, online livestreaming and other such methods must obtain a "news information services" license. Launching an Internet news information service without a license or beyond the license's scope is banned.
The regulation's definition of "news information" includes reporting and commentary on politics, economic, military matters, foreign affairs and other such public topics.
The obliquely-worded regulation soon caused panic among China's netizens, especially "we-media" providers. "We-media" refers to online news sources run by individuals or small groups, often by non-professionals or on a part-time basis. Many fear that the difficulty of obtaining a license will mean the end of most we-media accounts.
Different understandings
Some support the law, such as "Truth Brother," who runs a Sina Weibo account with 1.33 million followers. "It's meaningful in terms of clarifying public opinion, and it will alter the fact that everyone can be self-media and disturb online space by posting things arbitrarily … I think freedom is relative, and publishing without a firm political stance will disrupt China's Internet and is irresponsible for society," he told the Global Times.
But some observers say most of the discussion about the regulations misses the point. Experts say the regulation is not targeted at we-media providers, but at the platforms themselves. One of things they point to is that the process for getting a license basically requires the applicant to have a full, professional media organization with registered premises, certain kinds of personnel and the "funds suited to the services." As this is clearly well beyond the scope of small-scale operations, experts say it shows that the regulation is not aimed directly at we-media.
"The subject of the regulation's most controversial clauses is actually social media platforms, rather than we-media accounts, either run by individuals or organizations, on these platforms. This isn't new, and the regulation is another attempt at increasing the platforms' responsibilities," Wang Sixin, a professor specializing in media law and regulations at the Communication University of China, told the Global Times.
In other words, we-media accounts will likely not need a license to publish news or commentaries, but will face tighter controls from the platforms. "The platforms will strengthen their filtering of information that is illegal, politically incorrect, hurts people's mental and physical health or worsens the Internet environment," Wang said.
In a press conference last week, an official at the National Internet Information Office told media the regulations were first drafted in 2005, but over the years needed to be revised to fit the changing times.
He said in recent years, as Internet news has developed, there has been an abundance of fake news and illegal publications. Furthermore, as new technology and applications emerge, there's a need for adjustments to regulations.
Testing the limits
Chinese news websites can be loosely divided into two groups. Some are part of the official media system or are extensions of authority-backed news agencies, such as xinhua.com, the website of China's official news agency. These websites are allowed to publish their own reporting or commentaries. The other group is what Chinese regulators refer to as "news information websites," including major Internet portals like sina.com and 163.com. According to Chinese law, these sites can only reprint news stories generated by sanctioned media outlets and are not permitted to do their own reporting.
Over the years, however, many news portals have been trying to get around these limits and publish reporting of their own. Dozens of news columns run by these websites have appeared in recent years, the most famous including 163.com's investigative journalism column "Signpost" and sohu.com's news column "hudunews." The former, in particular, has covered a range of in-depth stories about sensitive topics including the case of a school built using toxic materials in Changzhou, East China's Jiangsu Province.
