Top Chinese media regulator orders online writers, bloggers to register real names

China’s top media regulator this week requested online writers and bloggers to register their real names in a bid to tighten control over the nation’s vibrant online literature scene.

The State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT), which issued the guidelines to its subordinated organs, said the move was aimed at controlling the quality of China's online literature and ensuring the healthy development of the industry.

The guidelines published on the administration’s website this week also ordered online publishers and editors to register themselves with the regulator to help enforce discipline in a sector besieged by problems relating to plagiarism, privacy and quality.

Other measures mentioned in the guidelines include establishing a literature rating system, strengthening the protection of authors’ copyright and cracking down on pornographic content online.

The guidelines echo President Xi Jinping’s emphasis on regulating the internet since he took over as party chief in late 2012. In a high-profile cultural symposium Xi chaired in Beijing last October, he singled out two bloggers known for patriotic-style of writing and encouraged them to “produce more works with a ‘positive energy’.”

Fang Zhouzi, a popular-science writer and avid blogger, feared the new guidelines could lead to an end to anonymous blogging and increased internet censorship.