China Strongly Regulates Internet that ‘Create Social Anxiety.’

Chinese media reported on the 12th that China created a new law that strongly regulated the Internet to stop creating social anxiety through the Internet and the uncontrolled use of Internet cafés by young people.

According to the Internet regulation law, which will be activated on the 15th of next month, the owners of Internet cafés should install devices that block the users to approach the information, which is prohibited by the government, through the Internet.

Especially the acts to △harm the union, sovereignty, and territorial union of the country, △leak the national secret or be against the national security, national reputation, or national interest, △instigate the separation of people, and △destroy the national policy on religion and spread heresy, superstition, and baseless rumors would be severely punished by the law.

And the acts to △spread lewd materials and promoted gambling, violence, and crime, △insult and abuse other people, △harm the social moral and the predominant cultural tradition, and △violate other laws and regulations are prohibited.

This regulation law created taking the fire accident of the Internet café in Beijing, which killed 24 people, on June 24 prohibits the students under 16 go to Internet café and limits the operating hours from 8 in the morning till midnight.

In order to operate an Internet café, one must have permission from a local government higher than a district government, and the operation of an Internet café is prohibited with in the radius of 200m from elementary and middle schools. And it is strongly prohibited to close or lock the doors and windows during the operation hours, and an emergency escape plan must be prepared.

While there is more than 200,000 Internet cafés’ operating in China, but except the 46,000 some registered cafés, the rest are operating without permission. The Internet users in China are around 45.8 million as of the end of June.

yshwang@donga.com