Chinese Police to Be Given Authority to Block Internet Access

Lu Wei, Chinese political leader and the senior executive official in charge of cybersecurity and Internet policy, speaks at the closing ceremony of the Second World Internet Conference last year. (Photo : Getty Images)

A proposed law will allow Chinese law enforcement officials to cut Internet access to the public in times of natural disasters, public health crises or social unrest.



The draft requires police authorities at the county level to get approval from the provincial or central governments before controlling the Internet to deal with emergency situations.




Furthermore, the draft will also allow county level police and above are allowed to cut Internet access at a major public gathering or state event, or "when an individual or specific target, such as a building or place, requires protection."



The draft also gives provides broader powers to officials in censoring social media discussion during crisis.



After the Tianjin explosions last year, censors expunged thousands of "dangerous" posts about the incident and punished those who "spread rumors" about the blasts and the Chinese stock market.



The Chinese public has previously been cut off from Internet access before without the help of such kind of law.



Internet access in Xinjiang was cut for 10 months during the 2009 ethnic riots that killed 197 and injured another 1,500 in 2009.



The government also blocked wireless Internet around Tiananmen Square during last year's military parade to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II.



Internet censorship in China, called "the Great Firewall of China," is mainly aimed at preventing information harmful to the Communist Party from entering the country.



There are nearly 700 million Internet users in China, the world's leader in e-commerce, which accounts for 40 percent of the global total.



China has four of the top 10 Internet companies in the world ranked by market capitalization, including Alibaba, an e-commerce giant; Tencent, which deals in social-media and gaming; and Baidu, a search specialist.



China's Internet czar, Lu Wei, claimed that China is correctly balancing between "freedom and order" and between "openness and autonomy."

