- Opposing the basic principles as defined in the Constitution
- Endangering national security
- Damaging nation’s honor and interests
- Inciting national hatred, ethnic discrimination and undermining national unity
- Undermining nation’s religious policies and promoting cults
- Spreading rumours, disrupting social order and destroying social stability
- Spreading pornography, gambling, violence, murder, terror or abetting a crime
- Insulting or slandering others and infringing upon others
- Any other content that is prohibited by laws and administrative regulations
Well, the list covers almost everything.
While China has already enforced “real-name registration” rules on the leading online platforms like WeChat and Weibo for a few years, the latest regulations would cover the remaining parts of the online world, including online communities and discussion forums.
These new regulations follow China’s 14-month-long crackdown on VPN (Virtual Private Networks), which requires VPN service providers in the country to obtain prior government approval, making most VPN vendors in the country of 730 million Internet users illegal.
Late last month, Apple also removed some VPN apps, including ExpressVPN and Star VPN, from its official Chinese app store to comply with the government crackdown that will remain in place until March 31, 2018.
