The Beijing Association of Online Media (BAOM) is the city’s media self-censoring organization. According to its website, both Beijing’s Chinese Communist Party committee’s Department of Propaganda and the city government’s Civil Affairs Bureau are responsible for its guidance and supervision. Senior management personnel from China’s well-known online media and IT companies, such as Sina.com, Sohu.com, and Baidu, as well as CCP officials in charge of censorship, are on its board.
On October 17, BAOM held its seventh annual meeting, which focused on strengthening real name registration for online activities. According to Beijing Daily, “Sina.com and Sohu.com, …, hired special personnel to screen and filter bad online information. They target microblogs where the message spreads rapidly; it is easy to use; and people put in a lot of effort.” “Search engine Baidu established a review team of a thousand people who will examine all of its products on a daily basis so as to make sure the online environment is clean.”
Source: Beijing Daily, October 18, 2011
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