The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) recently proposed new rules for internet users in China, with an aim to blacklist people who spread rumors online.

According to Xinhua, the proposed legislation was officially made open to the public for comment on July 22. The draft looks to put restrictions on internet information service providers and users who publish content that is considered “contrary to social morality and business ethics.” Violators of this new proposal would face administrative penalties, such as shutting down websites and revoking business licenses.

For more serious or repeated violations, wrongdoers may be added to a blacklist for up to three years. However, subjects can apply for withdrawal by “correcting the breach of trust and eliminating the negative social impact,” among other obligations in accordance with the social credit system.

China’s fight against online fake news spreaders started getting serious back in 2013, when a law was issued to stop the spread of rumors on Chinese social media. The rule took particular aim at libelous posts that were viewed over 5,000 times or shared over 500 times, according to Quartz. In August 2018, Beijing also launched a platform called Piyao – meaning to ‘refute rumors’ – that encouraged the public to report on disinformation circulating online.

The latest initiative to police the web has garnered attention on Weibo, with over 20 million people following the trending hashtag ‘Online disinformation will be blacklisted.’ “Should have happened earlier. Some people aren’t happy with their lives, and they find their existence online, but the internet shouldn’t be outside of the law,” posted one Weibo user.

In light of the new rumor-refuting initiative, a man in Shanghai was detained over the weekend after spreading rumors about another person online. Huang Yiqing, chairman of Super Sports Car Club, made multiple posts about Chinese entertainer Zhou Libo, indicating that Shanghai police were serving as his ‘protective umbrella’ (a phrase used in regards to corruption). According to a Weibo post by the Hongkou Public Security Bureau, the police launched an investigation into the claims, and found that Huang had a long-term dispute with Zhou and intentionally published false information about him. Huang later admitted the posts were not true in an apology letter posted online.

While Huang was originally slated for five days of administrative detention, his detention ended due to serious medical problems, according to a notice by Shanghai Public Security Bureau’s Hongkou station.

[Cover image via Pixabay]