China’s Internet regulator has launched a hotline for citizens to comment online, blaming the ruling Communist Party and its endorsed description of history, ahead of the party’s 100th anniversary.
The new hotline will enable Internet users to stop the spread of ‘wrong opinions’ and create a ‘good opinion atmosphere’ to pave the way for the July 1 event, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said. said in a notice. People can also send tips via the CAC’s website and app.
“Some people with ulterior motives … have been spreading historical nihilistic false statements online for some time, maliciously distorting, slandering and denying the party, national and military history in an attempt to confuse people’s minds,” the statement said. “We hope that most Internet users will play an active role in overseeing society … and enthusiastically report harmful information.”
“Historical nihilistic” information, in official rhetoric, is content that raises doubts about the Party’s report on the past.
The move comes in the wake of recent firestorms of online criticism unleashed by nationalist social media users, which have erased remarks from years ago and often since then that have been tarnished by public figures and brands. In the past month, such incidents have engulfed everyone from Oscar-winner Chloe Zhao to Chinese tennis champion Li Na and brands from Adidas to H&M, with flame wars being pushed to a higher profile by the participation of celebrities.
With the new hotline, Internet users can flex similar muscles with direct government support.
It will accept four types of content complaints: distortion of history, attacks on the Party’s’ leadership, leading ideology, principles or policies’, slander of heroes and martyrs, and ‘denial of the excellence of traditional Chinese culture, revolutionary culture and advanced socialist culture. ”
The CAC notice did not explain what criminal offenders would face. China regularly holds people in jail for online speech that is considered politically inappropriate. Last week, for example, authorities in Jiangsu Province detained a 19-year-old man for his “insulting” online remarks about Japan’s 1937 invasion of Nanjing during World War II.
Earlier this year, authorities introduced new legal clauses stating that those who “insult” the country’s national heroes and martyrs could face up to three years in prison.
China’s internet is one of the most censored in the world and bans most foreign news outlets, social media sites like Facebook and Twitter and search engines like Google.
The censorship of the country is usually even more active and vigilant before important political events, such as the most important legislative meetings of the “Two Sessions” every spring or the patriotic National Day holiday in October.