Beijing (AsiaNews) - In China, those who want to use the internet must be clearly identified: all anonymous surfing is banned. The announcement, given by the official news agency Xinhua casts a sinister light on respect for human rights by the new leadership of Xi Jinping.
Formally, the new measures, according to the Xinhua news agency, are for the "protection of personal data". In practice, anyone who wants to have access to the internet, from a fixed or mobile telephone will have to sign with an agreement with "real identification information"
with their provider.
The rule requires internet users to register with their real names has been in place since 2011, but has never been very applied.
The announcement appears as a response to the protests that have appeared on the Web against government policy and the complaints against the corruption of members of the Communist Party. Only a few days ago a group of 71 people, students and analysts nationwide, sent an open letter to the Communist Party calling for an end to censorship on the internet and a less repressive policy within national courts, "full" of government interference.
The Chinese authorities strictly control the Internet and regularly block news stories from abroad deemed not to be in line with their policies or standards of "truth".
This does not prevent hundreds of millions of Chinese people from using the internet, often using the micro-blog for discussions on issues of national interest, but which the authorities now want to silence.