Xinhua recently reported that the State Council Information Office held an Online Forum Reply Posts Management Conference. A total of 29 major Chinese sites jointly signed the Self-Regulation Agreement on Managing Online Replies and Comments. The purpose of the Agreement is to ensure that online opinion exchanges are reasonable and friendly. The Agreement requires the sites to ensure that real names are used for user registration and to prohibit activities that go against the basic principles set in the Constitution, such as, endangering national security, leaking national secrets, attempting to overthrow the government, undermining national unity, inciting racial hatred, breaking laws, destroying the public social order, or distributing false information. The Agreement also laid out how violators will be punished. Examples include permanent closure of an account or invocation of a government investigation. The Deputy Director of the State Council Information Office suggested that many well-known international websites have imposed detailed rules on commenting. Media self-regulation is an important element of Internet governance.
Source: Xinhua, November 6, 2014
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2014-11/06/c_1113149824.htm