In addition to the “Golden Shield” (in another version – the great Chinese firewall) and cyber-Hungweibins, the PRC has begun building a third line of security on the Internet.
China’s Ministry of Public Security has announced a week-long campaign against online rumors. Its goal is to better inform the public about the dangers of disinformation.
The campaign was launched on Saturday after President Xi Jinping concluded a two-day cybersecurity meeting in Beijing, highlighting the need for China to build a “security barrier” around the Internet.
“We must… carefully implement the important ideas of the Central Committee of the Communist Party to create a “cyber great power” and seriously take the responsibility for preventing risks and ensuring security, as well as strengthening governance for the benefit of the people,” the publication quotes him as saying.
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Xi Jinping called for a further crackdown at a cybersecurity conference. Photo: Xinhua
China /
Politics
China launches another internet crackdown targeting online rumours
Drive by Ministry of Public Security follows call by Xi Jinping for country to build ‘security barrier’ around the internet
Ministry says a campaign earlier this year resulted in 10,000 social media accounts being shut down
China’s Communist Party
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Published: 4:30pm, 16 Jul, 2023
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China’s Ministry of Public Security has embarked on a weeklong campaign targeting online rumours.
The ministry said the nationwide campaign was designed to better inform the public of the harms of misinformation.
It was launched on Saturday after President Xi Jinping brought a two-day cybersecurity meeting in Beijing to a close by stressing the need for China to build a “security barrier” around the internet.
“We must … thoroughly implement the important thoughts of the Communist Party’s Central Committee about [building] a ‘cyber great power’ and earnestly shoulder the responsibility of raising the banner to gather the hearts of the people, preventing risks and ensuring safety, and strengthening governance to benefit the people,” Xi told the meeting, according to state news agency Xinhua.
“[We must] increase momentum to promote development and seek win-win cooperation, adhere to the party’s management of the internet and the principle of [building] internet trust for the people.
“[We must] persist in building a solid national network security barrier, giving play to the driving and leading role of information, and managing, operating and accessing the internet according to the law.”
Xi has long pushed for China to become a “cyber great power”, rolling out support to expand internet infrastructure and to develop a “civilised” cyber environment.
This year the public security ministry already ran a 100-day crackdown targeting online rumours and said it had achieved “remarkable results”.
The ministry said that during the crackdown, which started in April, its officers investigated more than 1,600 cases of online rumours and shut down more than 10,000 social media accounts for spreading rumours.
It said that throughout the week, police departments would spread the message about preventing misinformation at government agencies, schools, businesses and rural areas.
Local governments were quick to tout their success in the crackdown.
🇨🇳💻 The China Cyberspace Authority reported that between March 10 and May 22, it deleted 1.4 million messages and closed 67,000 social media accounts (WeChat, Douyin, Weibo) for posting misinformation, malicious information, illegal speculation, and issuing themselves for government officials.
In a separate campaign, the regulator shut down more than 100,000 accounts that misrepresented leading news and media outlets in an effort to counter the rise of AI-assisted fake news online.
In addition, the latest campaign targeted almost 13,000 fake military accounts with names such as “Chinese Red Army Command”, “Chinese Anti-Terrorist Force” and “Strategic Missile Force” . Some 25,000 other accounts have been taken down for impersonating government agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and government research institutes.
