BEIJING: China will ban from March 1 Internet accounts that impersonate people or organizations, and enforce the requirement that people use real names when registering accounts online, its Internet watchdog said on Wednesday.
China has repeatedly made attempts to require Internet users to register for online accounts using their real names, although with mixed success.
The ban on impersonations includes accounts that purport to be government bodies, such as China’s anti-corruption agency and news organizations like the People’s Daily state newspaper, as well as accounts that impersonate foreign leaders, such as US President Barack Obama and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said on its website.
Many users of social media create parody accounts of prominent figures and institutions to poke fun at them.
The new regulations are part of efforts to impose real-name registration requirements on Internet users and halt the spread of rumors online, CAC said.
The measure reflects China’s tightening control of the Internet, which has accelerated since President Xi Jinping took power in early 2013.
Internet companies will have the responsibility to enforce the rules, said the CAC. Among these are Tencent Holdings Ltd. , which runs hugely popular instant messaging services WeChat and QQ, and microblog operator Weibo Corp, as well as several online forums.
Weibo strongly supports adoption of the regulations and will strengthen its management efforts, a spokesman said by e-mail. In the past month, Weibo has removed 293 accounts with “harmful names,” including those which are political, pornographic and related to public security, he said.
Tencent declined immediate comment.
China operates one of the world’s most sophisticated online censorship mechanisms, known as the Great Firewall. Censors keep a tight grip on what can be published online, particularly content seen as potentially undermining the ruling Communist Party.
On Tuesday, the CAC accused NetEase Inc, a US-listed Chinese web portal, of spreading rumors and pornography. And last month, 133 WeChat accounts were shut down for “distorting history,” state media reported.
China to ban online impersonation accounts, enforce real-name registration
China to ban online impersonation accounts, enforce real-name registration
Apple to update EU browser options, make more apps deletable
- iPhone maker came under pressure from regulators to make changes after the EU’s sweeping Digital Markets Act took effect on March 7
- Apple users will be able to select a default browser directly from the choice screen after going through a mandatory list of options
STOCKHOLM: Apple will change how users choose browser options in the European Union, add a dedicated section for changing default apps, and make more apps deletable, the company said on Thursday.
The iPhone maker came under pressure from regulators to make changes after the EU’s sweeping Digital Markets Act took effect on March 7, forcing big tech companies to offer mobile users the ability to select from a list of available web browsers on a “choice screen.”
The new rules require mobile software makers to show the choice screen where users can select a browser, search engine and virtual assistant as they set up their phones, which earlier came with preferred options from Apple and Google.
In an update later this year, Apple users will be able to select a default browser directly from the choice screen after going through a mandatory list of options.
A randomly ordered list of 12 browsers per EU country will be shown to the user with short descriptions, and the chosen one will be automatically downloaded, Apple said. The choice screen will also be available on iPads through an update later this year.
Apple released a previous update in response to the new rules in March, but browser companies criticized the design of its choice screen, and the Commission opened an investigation on March 25 saying it suspected that the measures fell short of effective compliance.
The company said it has been in dialogue with the European Commission and believes the new changes will address regulators’ concerns.
It also plans to introduce a dedicated area for default apps where a user will be able to set defaults for messaging, phone calls, spam filters, password managers and keyboards.
Users will also be able to delete certain Apple-made apps such as App Store, Messages, Camera, Photos and Safari. Only Settings and Phone apps would not be deletable.
