Reporters Without Borders responds unfavorably to China’s new “agreement” with blog service providers, which does not require real-name registration but strongly encourages providers to keep tabs on their users’ personal information . From PC World:
The government, through the Internet Society of China, recently drafted a pact that was signed by at least 20 major blog service providers in the country, including Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp., the Paris-based watchdog group said Thursday.
“The pact stops short [of] the previous project of making it obligatory for bloggers to register, but it can be used to force service providers to censor content and identify bloggers,” the group said in a statement. The pact, unveiled Wednesday, signals an “imminent” new wave of censorship and repression, the group said. [Full Text]
The Internet Society of China (中国互联网协会) is controlled by the central government’s Ministry of Information Industry.
See also: “Yahoo, MSN sign ‘self-discipline’ pact” from AFP.
