Advert
Supported by
The government said the proposal would protect online privacy. Critics have said it could simply further concentrate the government on the Internet.
By Meaghan Tobin and John Liu
Meaghan Tobin reported from Taipei, Taiwan and John Liu from Seoul.
It is difficult to remain anonymous online in China. Websites and apps will have to identify users with their phone numbers, which are connected to the non-public identity numbers assigned to all adults.
Things may get more complicated now following a proposal from Chinese regulators: the government needs to take over the verification boxes of corporations and give other people a unique ID to use in the Array.
The Ministry of Public Security and the Cyberspace Administration of China say the proposal aims to protect privacy and prevent online fraud.
A national internet ID would be “an excessive collection and retention of non-public data of citizens across internet platforms on the grounds of implementing real-name registration,” the regulators said.
The use of the identity formula through applications would be voluntary, according to the proposal, open to public comment until the end of August.
For years, the Chinese government has exercised strict control over data and heavily monitors people’s online habits. In recent years, China’s largest social media platforms, such as microblogging site Weibo, lifestyle app Xiaohongshu and short video app Douyin, have started showing users’ locations in their posts.
But until now, this has been fragmented, and censors have to limit themselves to other people on other online platforms. A national identity on the Internet can simply centralize it.
“With this web ID, each and every one of your online movements, all your virtual traces, will be monitored through regulators,” said Rose Luqiu, an assistant professor of journalism at Hong Kong Baptist University. “It will definitely have an effect on people’s behavior. “
On Weibo, the proposal has been trending since its publication on Friday. Many comments echoed regulators’ considerations that too many other apps had access to their non-public information.
Dr. Luqiu said that many influencers have embraced the concept that online platforms profit from people’s non-public data and disregard their privacy.
Some Chinese lawyers have said that a national identity formula on the Internet risks giving the government too much leverage to monitor what other people do online.
The coverage of non-public data is just a pretext to make the social control regime regular, warned Lao Dongyan, a law professor at Tsinghua University, in a message that she said has since been deleted. Lao compares the formula to the Chinese government’s Fitness Code app that tracked people’s movements during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Another law professor, Shen Kui of Peking University, said in a commentary posted online that a centralized identity on the Internet would make other people afraid to use the Internet.
“The dangers and harms of a unified ‘Internet ID’ and ‘Internet license’ are immense,” he wrote.
Meaghan Tobin covers economic and generation issues in Asia, with a focus on China, and is based in Taipei. Learn more about Meaghan Tobin
John Liu covers China and generation for The Times, focusing primarily on the interplay between politics and generation chains. He is in Seoul. Learn more about John Liu
Advert