The order was issued by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) on Sunday. Notices were sent to several sites including NetEase Inc.,Tencent Holdings and Sina Corp. The order says the government of China has sole control over the dissemination of news.
The order follows an announced crackdown on July 4 against news stories found on social media sites. The purpose of this crackdown, according to the government, was to prevent the dissemination of false news and rumours.
Bloomberg reports the reporting of independent news has been a gray area. It has been illegal for companies to hire independent reporters and editors to report non-state sanctioned news since 2005 but the regulations prohibiting independent news outlets from doing so have never really been enforced before now.
President Xi Jinping has been saying for some time that the Chinese news media must serve the interests of the Communist Party.
Independent news sources have covered cases of corruption as well as issues the Chinese government is sensitive about such as demonstrations and human rights violations. It is believed independent coverage of recent floods in northern China that killed more than 100 people — and displaced hundreds of thousands others — led to the crackdown at this particular time. The government has faced criticism of its handling of the disaster and pictures of bloated bodies floating on the water have appeared on some non-governmental Internet sites.
Analysts say the crackdown was also timed to prevent political instability before the meeting of the Communist Party’s 19th Congress scheduled to be held in November 2017. At the Congress, new leaders will be appointed and the process could be damaged by reports by an independent media.
Reuters reports the actual crackdown began Monday. The CAC said visits by agents were made to eight Internet outlets in Beijing and Guangdong and fines were levelled against the companies. The CAC said they found poor management and a lack of training that resulted in decisions being made solely for economic benefits. Managers and employees of these outlets were accused of not being team players. Problems with these companies were also attributed to the rapid advancement of technology.
According to the CAC, what the government is doing is not censorship; rather the CAC is “managing” the Internet.
