Thaindian News

Beijing, Dec 16 (IANS) Beijing Friday asked users of Twitter-like microblogging services to provide their real names.

Beijing’s government published new rules requiring users of microblogging services to provide their authentic identities, reported Xinhua.

According to the new rules, web users need to give their real names to website administrators before being allowed to put up microblog posts.

The bloggers, however, are free to choose their screen names, a spokesman with the city’s web content management authority said.

China’s internet users with broadband access totalled 149.93 million by the end of September, up 23.64 million year-on-year, whereas the number of dial-up connection users dropped by 198,000 to 5.7 million.

“The new rules are aimed at protecting web users’ interests and improving credibility on the web,” said the spokesman.

The official said the move will help microblogging service providers enhance trustworthiness and improve the quality of their services.

According to the rules, web users need to register using authentic identities when applying for microblog IDs, which will enable them to write, publish and share postings.

Web users do not have to apply for an ID to browse posts, the document said.

The new rules ban individuals and organizations from posting and duplicating illegal content, including information that leaks state secrets, damages national security and interests, and instigates ethnic resentment, discrimination or illegal rallies that disrupt social order.

These websites will have to ensure the authenticity of their users’ identities, and protect the privacy of microbloggers, it said.

The new rules have caught the attention of many microbloggers at Sina Weibo, China’s largest microblogging site with over 200 million users.

Some said the move would be effective in curbing online rumours and fraud, while others were worried that it would stop people from voicing their complaints or grievances.