What are the highlights of the new regulations? Experts have interpreted that the Central Cyberspace Administration has once again set a red line platform for "self media" | media | new red line regulations
In recent years, the emergence of self media has enriched the leisure life of netizens and provided a broad platform for practitioners to showcase themselves. But the accompanying self media chaos is also increasing day by day. Yesterday, the Central Cyberspace Administration issued a notice, proposing 13 work requirements to strengthen the management of self media, including strict prevention of counterfeiting and counterfeiting, strengthening qualification certification and display, to local cyberspace administration departments. What are the highlights of these 13 new regulations? What are the main responsibilities clearly defined? Can it achieve the effect of "hitting snakes and seven inches"?
13 new regulations
The Central Cyberspace Administration has once again drawn a red line for "self media"
These 13 job requirements include: strict prevention of counterfeit and counterfeit behavior; Strengthen the display of qualification certification; Standardize the labeling of information sources; Strengthen the management of information authenticity; Add fictitious content or controversial information labels; Improve the rumor tagging function; Standardize account operation behavior; Clarify the conditions for opening profit-making permissions; Restricting profits from illegal activities; Improve measures for managing the number of fans; Strengthen the management of MCN institutions affiliated with self media; Strictly deal with violations; Strengthen the exposure of typical case handling.
The Central Cyberspace Administration requires local cyberspace departments to effectively fulfill their territorial management responsibilities, strengthen business guidance and daily supervision, carry out supervision and inspection of information, social media, live streaming, short videos, knowledge Q&A, forum communities and other types of website platforms, urge website platforms to strictly comply with work requirements, and effectively strengthen "self media" management.
What are the highlights of the new regulations?
What are the main responsibilities clearly defined?
What are the highlights of the 13 red lines set by the Central Cyberspace Administration for "self media" this time? What are the main responsibilities clearly defined in these 13 articles? Let's listen to the expert's interpretation.
Professor Zuo Xiaodong from the School of Public Affairs and the School of Cyberspace Security at the University of Science and Technology of China: The highlights include the following aspects. One is to apply traditional regulations to the field of self media to prevent regulatory gaps. For example, some self media accounts carry the names or logos of party, government, and military organs, news media, and administrative divisions to carry out counterfeiting and counterfeiting. Previously, similar situations occurred in the names of Internet websites, which should be managed through domain name registration and other links. For the self media industry, it is necessary for website platforms to strengthen account information verification in registration and other stages. Traditionally, websites related to education, healthcare, and other areas require qualifications and clear display. Self media is not a website, do you need qualifications for this type of service? This document also specifies that the name of the service qualification and other certification materials should be displayed on the account homepage.
Secondly, it has a strong targeting effect on the chaos of self media. For example, some "self media" use fake photos and videos to prove that there are pictures and the truth. If this document requires the use of self taken pictures and videos, relevant information such as the shooting time and location must be indicated one by one. Some "self media" intentionally hype up old news and events, making a fuss about the time and place. This document requires a clear explanation of the time and place of the event at that time. Some "self media" at the end use methods such as preventing disconnection, early attention, and suspense to induce users to follow other accounts, attempting to construct a "self media" account matrix to form a cluster effect. This document is also strictly prohibited.
The third is to severely crack down on the illegal operation of "self media" accounts. The root cause of self media chaos is the use of illegal and irregular means to attract traffic and make illegal profits, so it is necessary to use economic means to block its illegal profit channels. In terms of content, it is required that "self media" shall not collect negative information, stir up old news and events, speculate on social hot topics, or engage in consumer disasters and accidents; In terms of promotional methods, websites are required to strictly follow the "one person, one account, one enterprise, two accounts" account registration regulations; In terms of profit channels, the document puts forward clear conditions for opening profit permissions such as advertising sharing, content sharing, e-commerce sales, live streaming rewards, etc. If one wants to bypass supervision by acquiring existing accounts, they cannot be granted profit permissions within three months; In terms of punishment measures, it is stipulated that "self media" must temporarily suspend their profit-making privileges during the period of being banned, and the number of fans who have increased due to violations should be removed.
Why is "authenticity" mentioned multiple times in the new regulations?
In fact, for a period of time, the public security organs have been increasing their efforts to crack down on the chaos of self media fabricating online rumors. In this new regulation, we can also see that the keyword "authenticity" has appeared multiple times in the regulations. Why is this? Let's listen to the expert's interpretation again.
Professor Zuo Xiaodong from the School of Public Affairs and the School of Cyberspace Security at the University of Science and Technology of China: "Authenticity" is a basic requirement for news dissemination and a fundamental condition for the stable operation of society. But spreading rumors is precisely the survival philosophy of illegal "self media", so clear requirements should be made for "authenticity", and "self media" should be responsible for the authenticity of the information they publish and reprint. Especially when it comes to domestic and international current events, public policies, social events, and other related information, the source of the information should be accurately labeled. But this does not mean that stories cannot be told and novels cannot be written on the Internet. If self media releases content containing fictional plots or plot deductions, they should prominently label them as fictional or deduction. Nowadays, deep synthesis and generative artificial intelligence are widely used, which is not to be denied, but it needs to be clearly labeled as technical generation.
The new regulations clarify website platform responsibilities from multiple aspects
Let's go back to these 13 new regulations released by the Central Cyberspace Administration to see how the responsibilities and obligations of website platforms are defined. According to the regulations, for self media whose qualifications have not been certified or whose qualifications have expired, website platforms should suspend the provision of corresponding field information publishing services. When self media releases information, website platforms should display the account name of "self media" on the information release page and cannot be replaced by anonymous users. When self media releases content containing fictional plots and plot interpretations, website platforms should require them to prominently label them as fictional or deductive. Rumors related to public policies, social livelihoods, major emergencies, and other fields should be promptly labeled by website platforms with rumor tags.
In addition, there are 7 provisions specifically mentioning the main responsibility of website platforms. For example, website platforms should strengthen the verification of "self media" account information to prevent accounts that have been closed in accordance with the law from re registering. The conditions for opening profit-making permissions should be clearly defined, and illegal behaviors should be restricted from profiting. The website platform should promptly verify and eliminate the increased number of followers of self media due to violations. And it is required that website platforms should establish a sound management system for MCN institutions, and implement centralized and unified management of MCN institutions and their contracted accounts.