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 Last year, China launched a campaign to clamp down on online rumor
mongering and 'clean up' the internet. The crackdown has led to an
exodus of users from Twitter-like microblog platforms such as Weibo
Corp's Weibo after authorities detained hundreds of outspoken users.
The latest restrictions will affect hugely popular mobile messaging
apps such as Tencent's WeChat, which has almost 400 million users.
Other instant messaging tools include Tencent's QQ, Alibaba Group
Holding Ltd's [IPO-BABA.N] Laiwang app, NetEase Inc's Yixin and
Xiaomi Inc's Miliao.
Public, or official, accounts can send out single messages to a much
larger number of followers than individual users and are commonly
used by media organizations and companies.
Accounts that haven't been approved by the instant messaging service
provider are forbidden to publish or reprint political news, the
official Xinhua news agency said. It added that service providers
must verify and publicly mark accounts that can publish or reprint
political news.
Public account users must also sign an agreement with the service
provider when they register, promising "to comply with the law, the
socialist system, the national interest, citizens' legal rights,
public order, social moral customs, and authenticity of
information," Xinhua said.
These new regulations could have a similar effect to the one seen on
Weibo last year.
The rules "could cool down the traffic of WeChat public accounts and
discourage journalists from setting up individual WeChat public
accounts," said Fu King-wa, an assistant professor at the University
of Hong Kong's Journalism and Media Studies Centre.
Tencent said it would work within the new regulations which it
stressed would only apply to public accounts and not to everyday
users.
"We will take measures against offensive and abusive activities to
ensure compliance with relevant regulations," a spokeswoman said in
an e-mailed statement.
Alibaba declined to comment. Xiaomi declined to provide immediate
comment by telephone, while NetEase was not available for immediate
comment by phone.
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OFFICIAL SCRUTINY
As apps like WeChat have grown in popularity, they have
increasingly come under the ruling Communist Party's gaze.
"WeChat, and social media, are now truly mass media and regulated as
such," said Duncan Clark, chairman of Beijing-based tech advisory
BDA.
"There are challenges of course in regulating (WeChat), but the
Party will never loosen up," said Clark.
On Thursday, South Korea said Chinese authorities had blocked
messaging apps KakaoTalk, operated by South Korean Kakao Talk, and
Line, a Japanese-based subsidiary of South Korea's Naver Corp, as
part of efforts to fight terrorism, the first official explanation
of service disruptions in China that began a month ago.
Other services such as online video streaming sites run by Youku
Tudou Inc, Sohu.com Inc, Baidu Inc and Tencent have also been
targeted by censors in recent months.
Tencent shares were down 3.5 percent in Hong Kong trading on
Thursday, versus a 0.8 percent drop in the Hang Seng Index.
(Editing by Ryan Woo and Mark Potter)
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