MCLC: real-name registration program expands

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: kirk (denton.2 at osu.edu)
Subject: real-name registration program expands
***********************************************************

Source: NYT (1/18/12):
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/19/world/asia/china-expands-program-requirin
g-real-name-registration-online.html

China Expands Program Requiring Real-Name Registration Online
By MICHAEL WINES

BEIJING ‹ China will expand nationwide a trial program that requires users
of the country¹s wildly popular microblog services to disclose their
identities to the government in order to post comments online, the
government¹s top Internet regulator said on Wednesday.

The official, Wang Chen, said at a news conference that registration
trials in five major eastern Chinese cities would continue until wrinkles
were worked out. But he said that eventually all 250 million users of
microblogs, called weibos here, would have to register, beginning first
with new users.

Mr. Wang indicated that under the program, users could continue to use
nicknames online, even though they would still be required to register
their true identities.

Mr. Wang leads the State Council Information Office, which regulates the
Internet and the government¹s domestic public-relations machine. He also
is a deputy director of the Communist Party¹s propaganda department and,
in particular, is in charge of China¹s lavishly financed recent efforts to
burnish its image worldwide.

The government has said that it is studying real-name registration of
microbloggers to limit the spread of malicious rumors, pornography, scams
and other unhealthy practices on microblogs, which have become a major
source of news for many Chinese.

Free-speech advocates generally condemn the move, saying that the
microblogs¹ freewheeling debate and frequent criticism of official
misconduct will be neutered if the government knows the identity of
everyone who posts a comment. Real-name use also would allow security
officers to target microblog users who consistently post comments about
sensitive issues, even if their individual remarks do not attract large
numbers of readers.

China counted 513 million people online in 2011, a sharp increase from
2010, but microblogs have grown even more spectacularly, quadrupling the
number of users in the last year. They revealed their power
<http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/29/world/asia/29china.html> to drive
public opinion last July, after a high-speed rail crash in Zhejiang
Province prompted tens of millions of online comments, many condemning the
government¹s stewardship of the rail system and its response to the
accident.

The government soon stepped up its efforts to monitor and censor online
dialogue on sensitive topics, with senior Communist Party officials
visiting major Internet companies to underscore their concern. The trial
requirement of real-name registration was announced last month.

Mr. Wang said on Wednesday that the government broadly supports citizens¹
use of microblogs, noting that an average day sees 150 million new
comments posted online. ³Weibos can indeed reflect people¹s opinion and
spread positive voices and enrich information services,² he said. ³But
they have also made it easy for some irrational voices and negative
opinions and harmful information to spread quickly.²

Real-name registration will have a chilling effect on some kinds of online
comment, Hu Yong, an associate professor at Peking University¹s school of
journalism and communications, said in a telephone interview on Wednesday.
But it remains to be seen how many users would be dissuaded from speaking
out on controversial issues, Mr. Hu added.

³Certainly some people will not dare to speak out about certain issues,²
he said. ³But a lot of people already are using their real names, even in
discussing current affairs. And the user base of weibos is so huge that if
something happens to highly concern their own interests, I think you¹ll
still hear a loud uproar.²

At Wednesday¹s news conference, Mr. Wang also suggested that the
government and the Communist Party would continue to expand and improve
domestic and global public-relations machines, starting with training for
news spokespersons who are increasingly deployed in government offices.

Some press officers are ³putting the government on the back foot in
dealing with emergency events,² he said, because they have not yet learned
how to respond quickly and accurately to requests for information. He said
public-relations officials would be trained in ³political thought² and
³the spirit of speaking truth,² adding: ³Speaking honestly is the most
valuable quality of news spokespersons. Skills are necessary, but that
comes second.²

On the foreign front, Mr. Wang said, ³We will spread the voice of China to
the world with an even more open attitude and more efficient methods.²

The goal, he said, is to educate foreigners to China¹s domestic and
foreign policies, values and culture ³so that we can show off a national
image of being civilized, democratic, open and progressive.²
Edy Yin contributed research.