Chinese Government Issues Strict Social Media Draft Regulations

China’s State Council Information Office today issued updated draft guidelines for further strengthening government oversight of the Internet.

In today’s “Measures for the Administration of Internet Information Services”, the SCIO expands the need for company’s to register under a new regime to those websites offering microblogs, forums, and and other social media services.

The rules particularly aim to strip anonymity from the Internet, as users of Chinese social networking blog and forum websites will need to register with their real identities at the websites. Microblogs like Sina’s Weibo.com were compelled to do the same thing last year.

The rules do not affect websites like Facebook.com or Twitter.com because those websites are not allowed to operate or provided access in China.