On October 26, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), the country’s top Internet censorship authority, made an announcement on its Wechat account that a campaign is underway to shake up the mobile browsers, that is, the web browsers designed for use on mobile phones. The first batch of targets includes eight popular mobile browsers in mainland China: UC, QQ, Huawei, 360, Sogou, Xiaomi, vivo, and OPPO.
The announcement vowed to focus on three prominent problems. “The first is about online news and information that the ‘self-media’ illegally edited and published. The second is sensational headlines that feature malicious exaggeration, smear campaigns, and publicity stunts. The third is harmful information that violates ‘socialist core values.’”
Between October 27 and November 9, those who operate the browsers are required to “conduct in-depth self-inspection and rectification according to the list of issues and submit a rectification report and standard of contents to the cybersecurity authorities by 5:00 pm November 9.”
The cybersecurity regulators will inspect and reevaluate the self-inspections by the operators. For the mobile browsers that have outstanding problems after the inspection, there will be punishment as serious as the suspension of business.
Source: Cyberspace Administration of China, October 26, 2020
http://www.cac.gov.cn/2020-10/26/c_1605276242092309.htm