China says terrorism, fake news impel greater global internet curbs
WUZHEN, China: China’s ambitions to tighten up regulation of the Internet have found a second wind in old fears — terrorism and fake news.
Chinese officials and business leaders speaking at the third World Internet Conference held in Wuzhen last week called for more rigid cyber governance, pointing to the ability of militants to organise online and the spread of false news items during the recent US election as signs cyberspace had become dangerous and unwieldy.
Ren Xianling, the vice minister of China’s top internet authority, said on Thursday that the process was akin to ‘installing brakes on a car before driving on the road’.
Ren, number two at the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), recommended using identification systems for netizens who post fake news and rumours, so they could ‘reward and punish’ them.
The comments come as US social networks Facebook Inc and Twitter Inc face a backlash over their role in the spread of false and malicious information generated by users, which some say helped sway the US presidential election in favour of Republican candidate Donald Trump.
Over the last year, China has formalised a series of internet controls, including a controversial cybersecurity law passed earlier this month, rules that overseas business groups say could block foreign firms from the market.
Some fear such controls could, however, hinder the growth and innovation that is boosting Chinese influence in global tech.
The Wuzhen conference, held annually in the picturesque town outside Shanghai, gave a glimpse of China’s tougher new stance; in past years attendees were given unfettered access to websites normally blocked by China’s ‘Great Firewall’, including Google and Facebook, but not this year. — Reuters