The China Media Project has translated an editorial from the China Youth Daily, weighing in on the debate over real-name registration for web users:
Recently the Internet Society of China has proposed trying out a limited real-name registration system for the Web, so that when a user registers their account with a blog or bulletin board (BBS) site, they must provide their identity card, other necessary documents, their real surname, etc. But when they are onstage they may use whatever name pleases them. This proposal has brought animated discussion from a number of quarters.
The real-name Internet registration system first became a hot topic in 2003 after a conversation involving Tsinghua University professor Li Xiguang was leaked, in which he advised the People’s Congress to prohibit anonymity online and roll out an Internet real-name registration system. At the time this proposition was strongly opposed by the vast majority of Web users. In recent years, as space on the Web and the population of Internet users has grown by leaps and bounds, the role of the Web in [China’s] daily work culture has become more obvious by the day. [Full text]
