In October of last year we heard about how the Chinese government was about to tighten its stranglehold on the Internet. After censuring large portions of the Internet it had set its sight on all of the country’s bloggers as they saw how more and more people was spreading information that could hurt the reigning power. The Internet organ of China then recommended the government to require a complete registration by all bloggers in the country. In other words, no one would be able to spread any kind of information without them knowing who did it.
However, now it seems that China is actually backing down. They will not force bloggers to register, but instead they will promote blogging. They’ve realized that a registration process wouldn’t work and be impossible to maintain, but at the same time it will not stop censuring the Internet.
“According to the draft, an author’s real name is not compulsory for opening a blog, but bloggers are encouraged to register their real names and real information with service providers when they open.”
