Notice on Strengthening the Management of "Personal Media"

Promulgation Date: 2023-7-5
Title: Notice on Strengthening the Management of "Personal Media" 
Document Number:
Expiration date: 
Promulgating Entities: Office of the Cyber ​​Security and Informatization Commission of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China
Source of text: http://www.cac.gov.cn/2023-07/10/c_1690638496047430.htm

New Social Media Rules Infographic

New rules in China concerning content published by social media users are more than just another tool in China’s censorship kit.

To all provincial, autonomous region, or directly governed municipality Party Committee Internet information offices, and the Party Committee internet information office of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps:

Notice of the following work requirements is hereby given as follows in order the strengthen the management of “personal media”, solidify website platforms' primary responsibility for the governance of information content, complete and normalize institutional management mechanisms, and promote the formation of a positive online public opinion ecology:

1. Strictly prevent impersonation and counterfeiting. Website platforms shall strengthen the review of information in account registrations, changes to account information, and dynamic checking, to effectively prevent impersonation in ‘personal media’. Where account information contains the names or symbols of Party, government, or military organs, news media, or administrative divisions, they must be manually verified, and where impersonation or counterfeiting is discovered, services must not be provided.

2. Strengthen the display of qualifications authentication. Website platforms shall conduct strict verifications of “personal media” that produces information content in fields such as finance, education, health and medicine, or the justice sector, and shall display authentication materials such as their service qualifications, professional credentials, and background expertise on the account home page, and add labels indicating the fields to which they belong. Website platforms shall suspend the provision of publishing services in the corresponding fields for “personal media” that have not authenticated their credentials or that have expired authentications.

3. Standardize the indication of information sources. When “personal media” publish information related to domestic or foreign current events, public policies, societal incidents, etc., website platforms shall require them to correctly label the source of the information and display it in a conspicuous location when publishing. Where pictures or video that they took themselves is used, they must be individually labeled with information such as the time and location where they were taken. Where pictures or video generated through technology are used, they shall be clearly labeled as being produced by technology. Where past news incidents are cited, the time and place of those incidents must be clearly explained.

4. Strengthen the management of the veracity of information. Website platforms shall require “personal media” to be responsible for the veracity of the information that they publish or republish. When “personal media” publish information, website platforms shall display the name of the “personal media” account on the page where the information is published, and must not attributed to anonymous users instead. The information published by “personal media” must not be sheer fabrication, taken out of context, or distort facts; and methods such as patchwork editing and synthesized forgeries must not be used to impact the information’s veracity.

5. Attach labels for false or contested content. Website platforms shall require that “personal media” publishing fictional or speculative [embellished] stories, label the content as false or speculative in a conspicuous fashion. Website platforms are encouraged to tag contested information as such and limit the traffic of the related information.

6. Improve functions for tagging rumors. Website platforms shall promptly tag rumors in fields such as public policy, the public and people’s livelihood, and major breaking incidents, pin information refuting the rumor on search pages for the specific rumor, and use methods such as algorithmic recommendations to increase the reach of and efficacy of the refutation information.

7. Regulate account operations behavior. Website platforms shall strictly enforce the account registration provision of “one account per person, two for enterprises”, strictly prohibiting individuals and enterprises from manipulating the “personal media” accounts to matrix [concerted cross-platform] publish and disseminate illegal and negative information. “Personal media” shall be required to carry out account registration and operation activities in accordance with laws and regulations, they must not consolidate negative information [负面- not the legal term “不良信息“]， rekindle old incidents, stir up hot societal incidents, or market disasters and accidents; they must not induce users to follow other accounts to avoid losing contact, follow in advance, by creating suspense, or other such methods; encouraging and leading ‘personal media’ to create high-quality information content. Website platforms shall strengthen the verification of “personal media” account information to prevent accounts that have been closed down in accordance with laws and agreements from reregistering.

8. Clarify the requirements for turning on authority for earning. Where “personal media” apply for earnings authority, they must have no record of violating rules in the last three months. Where the account entity changes, website platforms shall suspend, or not grant, earnings authority for 3 months from the date of the change. Methods of earning include but are not limited to, advertising revenue shares, content shares, e-commerce product promotions, livestream tipping, tipping for articles or short videos, payments for information, and cooperation with brands.

9. Limit benefits from violations. Where website platforms employ measures to silence “personal media” that violates rules, they shall concurrently suspend earnings authority for a period of 2-3 times the length of the silencing. Website platforms shall cancel, or deny, earnings authority for “personal media” that build up vulgar personalities or online celebrities that go against good public customs, or that conduct malicious marketing by having multiple accounts act in concert to stir up hot societal incidents, etc. Website platforms shall periodically report to the internet information departments about restrictions on ‘personal media’ earnings authority for breaking rules.

10. Improve measures for managing the number of followers. Where the number of “personal media's” followers increases due to violations, website platforms shall promptly verify and remove them. During a period in which they are silenced, “personal media” must not gain new followers, their old articles must not be presented in key areas such as website platform recommendations or lists. “Personal media” that frequently stirs up hot societal incidents to gain followers are to be permanently prohibited from adding new followers, and where the circumstances are serious, are to have all followers canceled. Website platforms must not provide services transferring follower numbers.

11. Increase the extent of management of MCN organizations to which “personal media” belong. Website platforms shall complete management systems for MCN organizations, carrying out centralized and uniform management of MCN organizations and the accounts they have signed. The name of MCN organizations to which accounts belong is to be displayed in a conspicuous manner on “personal media” home pages. Website platforms shell employ measures such as suspending earnings authority, restricting the provision of services, and 入驻清退 , to address MCN organizations that use signed accounts to act in concert generate hype or have multiple violations,

12. Strictly address violations. Website platforms shall promptly discover and strictly address violations by “personal media”. “Personal media” that create and publish rumors, stir up hot societal topics or matrix [linked cross-platform] publish and transmit illegal or negative information, creating a vile impact are all to be closed, included in the platform database of blacklisted accounts, and reported to the internet information departments. Measures such as canceling interactive functions, clearing out followers, canceling earnings authority, silencing, and closing down shall be employed against “personal media” that transmit rumors. Measures such as canceling interactive functions, silencing, and closing down shall be employed against “personal media” that publish information in fields such as finance, education, health and medicine, or the justice sector without having had qualifications authenticated.

13. Strengthen exposure of dispositions and example cases. Website platforms shall strengthen the dispositions and exposure of “personal media” that violate rules, setting up a special column for warnings and education, periodically publishing example cases of “personal media” violations, and alerting “personal media” to do a good job in self-management.

All local internet information departments should truly fulfill responsibility for managing their area, strengthen industry guidance and routine regulation, carry out oversight inspections of website platform types, such as for information, social media, livestreaming, short videos, Q+A, and communities, and oversee website platforms’ implementation in strict accordance with requirements, to truly strengthen the management of “personal media”.

Secretariat of the Cyberspace Administration of China

2023/7/5