TLDR; Below is the English-translated version of the China Measures for the Administration of Internet Posting and Commenting Services, and it’s effective since December 15, 2022.
Administrative Provisions on Posting and Commenting Services on the Internet (Effective Date: 2022-12-15)
Article 1. In order to regulate internet commenting services, maintain national security and public interest, and protect the legitimate rights and interests of citizens, legal persons, and other organizations, this regulation is formulated in accordance with the “Cybersecurity Law of the People’s Republic of China,” the “Regulations on the Governance of Network Information Content Ecology,” the “Regulations on the Management of Internet User Account Information,” and other laws and regulations and relevant state provisions.
Article 2. The provision and use of commenting services within the People’s Republic of China shall abide by this regulation.
The commenting services referred to in this regulation refer to internet websites, application programs, and other platforms with public opinion attributes or social mobilization capabilities that provide services for users to publish text, symbols, emoticons, pictures, audio and video, and other information through comments, replies, messages, bullet screens, likes, and other means.
Article 3. The national cyber and information department is responsible for the supervision and management of law enforcement of commenting services throughout the country. Local cyber and information departments are responsible for the supervision and management of law enforcement of commenting services in their administrative regions in accordance with their duties.
Article 4. Commenting service providers shall strictly implement the main responsibilities of commenting service management and fulfill the following obligations in accordance with the law:
(1) In accordance with the principle of “real-name verification in the background and voluntary registration in the front,” verify the real-name identity information of registered users based on mobile phone numbers, ID card numbers or unified social credit codes, and do not provide commentary services to users who have not verified their real-name identity information or have used the identity information of organizations or others.
(2) Establish a sound personal information protection system, and handle personal information in accordance with the principles of legality, propriety, necessity, and integrity. Publicize the rules for processing personal information, and inform users of the purposes, methods, types, and retention periods of personal information processing, and obtain their consent in accordance with the law, except as otherwise provided by law or administrative regulations.
(3) For news information that provides commentary services, a system of prior review and subsequent release shall be established.
(4) For commentary services provided in the form of bullet screens, corresponding static version information content shall be provided on the same platform and page at the same time.
(5) Establish and improve the information security management system for commentary review, real-time patrol, emergency disposal, and acceptance of reports, and timely discover and dispose of illegal and harmful information, and report to the network information department.
(6) Innovate the management methods of commentary services, research and develop the use of commentary information security management technologies, and enhance the ability to dispose of illegal and harmful information; timely discover and report to the network information department the security vulnerabilities and risks such as defects and loopholes in the commentary service.
(7) Equip with security personnel and technical personnel in accordance with the scale of services, and train them in laws, regulations, and relevant knowledge of commentary services and information security management.
(8) Cooperate with the network information department in conducting supervision and inspection in accordance with the law, and provide necessary technical, data support and assistance.
Article 5: When a provider of follow-up comment services with public opinion attributes or social mobilization abilities launches a new product, new application, or new feature related to follow-up comments, a safety assessment should be carried out in accordance with relevant national regulations.
Article 6: A provider of follow-up comment services should sign a service agreement with registered users, clearly specifying the service and management rules for follow-up comments, as well as the rights and obligations of both parties in terms of follow-up comment publishing rights, management responsibilities, and compliance with relevant laws and regulations on the Internet, and carrying out civilized online education. For public account producers and operators, the service agreement should clearly specify their follow-up comment management rights and corresponding responsibilities, and urge them to fulfill their management duties.
Article 7: A provider of follow-up comment services should regulate the use of follow-up comment services by users and public account producers and operators in accordance with the user service agreement. For users of follow-up comment services who publish illegal and unhealthy information, the provider should take warning, refusal to publish, deletion of information, restriction of account functions, suspension of account updates, closure of accounts, and prohibition of re-registration as necessary, and keep relevant records; for public account producers and operators who have not fulfilled their management duties, causing illegal and unhealthy information to appear in the follow-up comment section, the provider should take warning, deletion of information, suspension of the follow-up comment section’s functions until permanent closure of the follow-up comment section, restriction of account functions, suspension of account updates, closure of accounts, and prohibition of re-registration as necessary, based on the specific circumstances and in accordance with the law and agreement.
Article 8: Providers of comment services shall establish a user classification and management system, conduct credit assessments on the comment activities of users, and determine the service scope and functions according to credit levels. Users who seriously breach trust shall be placed on a blacklist, and services shall be stopped for users on the blacklist and they shall be prohibited from using comment services through re-registering accounts or other means.
Article 9: Users of comment services shall abide by laws and regulations, follow public order and good morals, and promote socialist core values. They shall not publish information prohibited by laws, regulations, and relevant provisions of the state.
Article 10: Public account operators shall strengthen the review and management of comment information content for their accounts, and take necessary measures such as reporting and disposing of illegal and harmful information in the comment section as soon as it is discovered.
Article 11: Public account operators may, in accordance with the user service agreement, apply to the provider of comment services for the authority to report, hide, or delete illegal and harmful comments, or to close the comment section of their accounts independently. The provider of comment services shall, after conducting a credit assessment on the management of comments by public account operators, reasonably set management rights according to the nature of the public account and credit assessment level, and provide relevant technical support.
Article 12. Providers of follow-up comment services, users of follow-up comment services, and producers and operators of public accounts shall not infringe upon the legitimate rights and interests or public interests of others or seek illegal profits, or maliciously interfere with the order of follow-up comments or mislead public opinion, by means of publishing, deleting, recommending follow-up comments and information, or using software, hiring commercial organizations and personnel to disseminate information, or other means of interfering with the presentation of follow-up comment information.
Article 13. Providers of follow-up comment services shall establish and improve systems for accepting and handling public complaints and reports of illegal and unhealthy follow-up comment information, and appeals by users of follow-up comment services, set up convenient channels for complaints, reports, and appeals, and handle them in a timely manner.
Users of follow-up comment services who disagree with the follow-up comment information being dealt with have the right to file an appeal with the provider of follow-up comment services, who shall handle it in accordance with the user service agreement.
Any organization or individual who discovers a violation of these regulations may file a complaint with the online information department. The online information department shall handle the complaint in accordance with the law upon receipt.
Article 14. Online information departments at all levels shall establish and improve a system for daily inspections and regular inspections to supervise and manage the internet follow-up comment services in accordance with the law.
Article 15. Violations of these regulations shall be dealt with by the national and local online information departments in accordance with relevant laws and regulations.
Article 16. These regulations shall come into effect on December 15, 2022. The “Regulations on the Management of Internet Follow-up Comment Services” published on August 25, 2017 are hereby abolished at the same time.
Closing
The original article is written in Chinese; we translated it into English, which is what you read above. This document only serves the purpose of a quick understanding of the Law; use it at your own risk..
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