• by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, May 4, 2017

The Chinese government keeps tightening the screws on domestic online news publishers. Now, with the introduction of rules all news publishers are required to obtain official licenses and hire only party-approved staff.

The new regulation, which takes effect June 1, applies to a broad range of online media categories and formats.

Under the new rules, companies engaged in online publishing can only hire personnel who have been approved by the central and local governments. Their workers must obtain official reporting credentials from the central government. The new regulations also require all entities currently publishing news to obtain an official license to be allowed to continue publishing. 

Additionally, companies hoping to raise funds abroad or enter into foreign joint ventures must receive approval from the State Internet Information Officer.

Implemented by the official Cyberspace Administration of China as part of a larger review of rules for online news publishing, the new statute includes news about politics, the economy, military and foreign affairs, and emergencies, and covers all entities operating Web sites, apps, forums and chat rooms, blogs, “microblogs” (e.g. Sina Weibo, the Chinese Twitter), chat and messaging tools, and online video.

The Chinese government has moved swiftly to limit exposure to foreign news, including a recent crackdown on “virtual private networks,” which allow user to access forbidden sites.

In February 2016, the government passed a sweeping law forbidding online publishing by foreign entities operating in the country. The rule from the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television requires all entities publishing online to host all of their content on servers located in China.

Moreover, it prohibits “Sino-foreign joint ventures,” “cooperative ventures” and “foreign business units” from engaging in “network publishing service.”

Also last year, the Beijing Cyber Administration temporarily shut down all the country’s major non-state news publications, including online publishers like Sina, Sohu, NetEase and iFeng, for violating a 2005 law that bans publishing any news gathered independently of its official news and propaganda organs.

Foreign analysts speculated this move was motivated by their coverage of deadly floods in rural China.