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On January 10th, Chinese cybernetics administration announced regulations to manage blockchain technology, requiring registration of real names and identifications. After it entered into force on February 15th, the violation of the rules is punishable by fines or prison.
The Chinese authorities have increased the control and imposition of laws on the hundreds of millions of Internet users in the country. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has built a formidable Internet censorship infrastructure, passing through increasingly draconian IT security laws to ban online political dissidents and attempt violations.
Blockchain, or Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), has been developed as an anonymous and unbiased medium for recording transactions via the BitCoin virtual currency. Because it stores data in such a way that it can not be changed, technology poses a serious challenge for Party censorship.
Chinese internet users have used the blockchain to display and distribute information on important scandals.
The proof of the rape of a 19-year-old university student from the prestigious Beijing University by his professor in 1995, which led to suicide, was unveiled in April by one of his friends and defended by internet censorship using blockchain technology . After public outrage, the professor was dismissed and disciplined.
Likewise, many Chinese users have used the blockchain to denounce a government department scandal involving the vaccination of children with fake or faulty vaccines.
The new rules governing the blockchain seem to be intended to discourage more people from posting information about the scandals that the authorities find embarrassing, according to the Taiwan Central News Agency.
Real names required
The provisional version of the blockchain regulation was published last October. The document published on January 10th is its final version.
According to the rule, all blockchain operators must register with their company's organizational code, identification of their legal representatives, mobile number, company name, type of service, service module , the area of application and the IP address of the server.
While in use, blockchain operators must ensure that the content meets government requests, record all user information, and so on.
The regulation establishes that blockchain operators must register at the local Cyberspace administration office within 10 days of the start of a new service; register within 5 days from the service change; and report to the authorities within 30 days of termination of service.
Any blockchain operator who violates the regulations is subject to penalties from the administration of the cyberspace up to the amount of 30,000 yuan ($ 4,450), or time of imprisonment if the offense is deemed to be serious.
The rules surrounding the blockchain operation are the last regulation that the CCP has approved in a series of attempts to suppress freedom of speech in recent years.
In November 2016, the Chinese authorities published the Internet Security Act, which was implemented as of June 1st of the following year.
In May, the authorities announced their provisions for the administration of Internet News Information Services, which was implemented on the same day as the Internet Security Act.
In January 2011, CCP updated its administration of Internet Information Services procedures, which was first published in September 2000.
To enforce these laws and regulations, the Communist Party has mobilized significant resources and personnel to monitor and control the use of the internet in China. The media can not publish any information that the regime considers unfavorable, and the people who do it are punished.
The use of VPNs, which allows citizens of the network to access blocked sites such as Google, Facebook and Twitter, is now controlled. Two netizens have recently been punished for the use of VPNs.
Recent reports suggest that Party authorities, including the police, have hacked and seized Twitter accounts of prominent activists to publish incriminating content in their names, fabricating evidence against them that could be used in court.
Leo Timm contributed to this relationship.
