Several Chinese platforms and social networks will begin to show the location of users in their profiles based on their IP addressesa measure with which they seek to stop the spread of rumors and false news, in line with the policy promoted by the Government.
The initiative, which the companies have decided to carry out of their own volition since there is currently no legal mandate for it, seeks to “prevent Internet users from pretending to be in other places to spread rumors,” the South China Morning Post newspaper publishes today.
In recent months, social networks have been the main escape route for the Chinese population to air their fed up with the harsh zero covid policy of the authorities, which includes massive confinements, border closures and the obligation to undergo constant PCR tests.s, among other measures.
Although these posts are quickly censored and removed from Chinese cyberspace, the videos and posts have recently leaked quickly to Western networks like Twitter or Facebook, where videos of Shanghai residents have been seen – confined for three weeks – facing the police and testimonies from the population about the harshness of the confinement.
The videos of the brutal sacrifices of pets in Shanghai that outrage the population
The Weibo social network, one of the most used in the Asian country with 250 million users and similar to the censored Twitteralready established this policy a few weeks ago and now others will be added, such as Douyin -the Chinese version of TikTok with 600 million accounts-, Zhihu, Kuaishou (videos) or the news aggregator Jinri Toutiao.
Zhihu, a popular question-and-answer platform, noted that users’ locations will be visible on each post.
Although the Chinese government has increased control over the content that is disseminated on the networks in the last year, for now there is no law that requires social networks to publish the location of their users.
However, the move comes after the Chinese Cyberspace Administration in March warned that this year’s campaign to “bring order to online chaos” would include cracking down on the spread of rumours.yes
It is also the main initiative that the platforms have taken in the last five years to promote the transparency of identities on the Internet. According to the companies cited by the SCMP, the IP address will not be displayed, but the province where the user is located, or the country in the case of those accessing from outside China, will be visible. (I)
Source: Eluniverso
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
