The use of social media as a source of news has become a fixture in the United States—scrolling Twitter feeds appear next to news anchors, and tips from Facebook regularly result in television coverage. But not in China.
The Chinese Communist Party has recently created a new regulation that describes information from social media as “fake news” and “rumors,” effectively banning its use as a source of information, lest serious consequences follow.
A number of major news providers have already been sanctioned, reports say.
The regulation appeared just days after the appointment of the nation’s new internet czar, Xu Lin. His predecessor, Lu Wei, oversaw a block on Google services and its withdrawal from China. Xu seems intent on dialing it up a notch.
The Cyberspace Administration of China issued the new regulation in a July 3 statement.
“It is strictly forbidden for websites not to identify sources, or to falsify news sources, use hearsay to fabricate news, or use imagination to distort facts,” the statement read.
It seemed to indicate that “social media tools” could potentially be used — as long as the information was verified. But at the same time, it’s regime authorities who decided what is “verified” and what isn’t, experts say.
A number of websites and accounts circulating false news have been penalized, the Cyberspace Administration wrote in the same notice. These include major news portals Sina, Phoenix, Tencent and NetEase.
