China has banned internet news reporting by several major online companies, imposing financial penalties for violating its regulations.
The Cyberspace Administration of China said Sunday that companies, including Sina Corp., Tencent Holdings Ltd., Sohu.com Inc. and NetEase Inc., have violated internet regulations with original reporting that it says causes "huge negative effects,"
Bloomberg reported. Moving forward, online companies can only publish reports from government-controlled sources.
The new move represents a toughening of regulations against original reporting that have long been in place in China, where President Xi Jinping has said Chinese media must serve the interests of the ruling Communist Party.
Willy Lam, an adjunct professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s Center for China Studies said Xi "is really tightening up his crusade to silence opponents in the media," Bloomberg reported, citing The Paper.
State-controlled media reported that independent media companies engaged in "actions that seriously violated regulations and had a completely vile effect,"
Reuters reported.
China's Central Publicity Department launched an investigation of Tencent Web earlier this month after it carried a report of a July 1 speech by Xi that included a "one-character typo," Malaysia's
The Star Online reported.
The website reportedly swapped a character in the word "deliver," changing its meaning to "violently flip out." The investigation led to stricter oversight of the company.
Many Twitter users expressed their objections to the ban.
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