You Can't Use Putin or Obama Online Handles in China

by Bloomberg News

(Bloomberg) -- Putin and Obama have been banned from China.
Not the actual presidents of Russia and the U.S., but the use of their names by Chinese netizens as online handles. Account names that are registered or used in China and deemed “unlawful” or “unsound” will be prohibited from March as part of new Internet restrictions issued Wednesday by the country’s top cyberspace watchdog.
The clampdown is aimed at eliminating information that “seriously damages socialism’s core values” or “violates the public interest,” Xu Feng, director of the mobile Internet bureau of the Cyberspace Administration of China, said at a briefing in Beijing.

Other names on the black list include “People’s Daily,” “Rural Casino,” “Firearm dealers,” and “CCDI inspection team,” in reference to the Communist Party’s top disciplinary body. Without mentioning specific punishments, Xu said those who violate the regulations will be “handled by related laws.”
President Xi Jinping has tightened controls over
China’s cyberspace -- already one of the world’s most heavily censored - - since coming to power in November 2012. The latest move further undermines the idea that new technologies and media might lead to more open political debate and free speech.
“The measures will take a long time to take effect given the number of Internet users that China has,” said Wang Sixin, a media law professor at Communication University of China in Beijing. “But it shows the importance of the Internet to the government and the determination of authorities to purify the online space.”

New Rules

The new rules set out nine categories of restriction, including harming national security; leaking state secrets; hurting national honor and interests; instigating racial hatred and discrimination; harming religious policy; disturbing social stability; spreading rumors; obscenities and violence; and defamation, according to the administration’s website.
Internet service providers are responsible for reviewing online names, taglines and headshots of users, Xu said. Any account falling afoul of the rules should be deleted and reported to the cyberspace office, he said.
The estimated 630 million Web users in the world’s most populous country are unable to access social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Proxy servers are regulated, punishments are dished out for posts deemed defamatory and popular bloggers have been thrown in jail.
Some users of Weibo, a Twitter-like microblogging service, said the move shows that limits on free speech are being further tightened.
“What else does the government want to regulate?” said a micro-blogger who uses the handle “Migrant Software Worker VVV”. “In the future we won’t able to say anything online that goes against the government.”