China’s three major Internet companies fined for “insufficient information regulation"

Recently the NHK News On-line reported the following:

中国 ネット大手３社 を「情報規制不十分」で罰金

9月26日 4時56分

中国当局は、中国版のツイッターやＬＩＮＥなどについてデマやポルノなどの不適切な情報が十分に規制されていないとしてインターネット大手３社に罰金を科す行政処分を下したと発表し１０月の共産党大会を控えネット上の言論統制を強めています。

中国の北京と南部・広東省のインターネット管理当局は、２５日、中国版ツイッターの「ウェイボー」と中国版ＬＩＮＥの「ウェイシン」、それに最大手の検索サイト「バイドゥ」の掲示板をそれぞれ運営するネット大手３社に対して、ことし６月に施行されたインターネット安全法に違反したとして、罰金を科す行政処分を下したと発表しました。

発表は３社が利用者が発信するデマやポルノ、テロなどに関する情報を十分に規制しなかったとしていて当局は、各社に管理責任を果たすよう求めたとしています。

中国では当局が新聞やテレビの内容を規制していることもあって、ネット上が数少ない意見表明の場となっていますが、書き込みが政府や次々と削除されています。

今回、大手３社が処分を受けたことでインターネット各社が、今後、利用者の発信内容を制限する動きを強めることも予想されていて、１０月１８日に始まる５年に１度の共産党大会を控え中国当局はネット上の言論統制を強める姿勢を明確にしています。

My translation

For reasons of not regulating sufficiently improper information that was based on rumors and pornography etc. , the Chinese authority announced the passing down of an administrative penalty which inflicted a fine on the three major Internet companies that operated the Chinese version of Twitter and LINE etc., thus backing up the Communist Party meeting in October by strengthening controls over speeches in the Internet.

China’s Internet management authority in Beijing, and in Kuangtung province at the south had violated the Internet safety law that was in force since June of this year; it was announced that an administrative penalty in fine was passed down on the 25^th to the three major Internet companies which managed respectively China’s version of Twitter the “Way Baud" and China version LINE the “Way Shinn”, in addition to “Bye Do" which was a bulletin board and the largest search site in the country.

It was announced that the three companies had not regulate sufficiently rumors, pornography and terrorism information sent out by users and that the authority asked individual company to take up management responsibility.

In China while the authority regulated the contents of newspapers and television, the Internet was a place where some opinion could be expressed, but when the writings were seen as carrying inconvenient contents for the government and the Communist Party, they would be eliminated one after another.

As the 3 major companies got a punishment this time, for all companies it was expected that from now on individual Internet company might strengthen a movement in which the user's sending contents would be restricted. In preparation for the Communist Party meeting which was held once every five years and would be started on October 18, the Chinese authority had made clear its position of strengthening controls on speech in the Internet.

  It is not surprising that the CCP will tighten its control in the Internet for a while.