Tao Dongfeng (陶东风) is a professor in the Chinese Department of Capital Normal University in Beijing. This article is translated and edited from the Chinese by UPI Asia Online:
There have been a number of moves in China to force Internet users to reveal their real names online, rather than using a pseudonym. The latest is a move by local authorities in Xiamen city, who have proposed a regulation that would ban anonymous postings on the Internet and stipulate that people must use their real names and have their identities verified before posting content on the Internet.
The declared reason for this “real name rule” is to clean up the Internet and prevent irresponsible slandering and railing. But in my eyes, its real intention is to set up Internet police and goons, who can easily eliminate those who spread opinions that differ from the authorities’. In other words, this rule arises from a perceived need to suppress public opinion rather than from a sense of cultural responsibility. [Full Text]
