China’s internet watchdog calls for ‘favourable’ environment ahead of third plenum

Cyberspace Administration of China issues directive ahead of the Communist Party meeting, which will determine the course of economic policy

China’s internet censorship

William Zheng

Published: 2:00pm, 3 Jul 2024

Why you can trust SCMP

China’s top internet watchdog has called on regulators and internet companies to create a “favourable” environment ahead of a crucial Communist Party meeting this month.

The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) made the call at a national cyberspace meeting held last week, according to a statement released on social media on Tuesday.

The meeting came less than a month ahead of the third plenum, a gathering of more than 370 members of the party elite setting out the policy direction to tackle China’s economic and social challenges over the next five to 10 years.

CAC deputy director Niu Yibing urged all departments and China’s web platforms to “go all out” to create a “favourable” public opinion environment in the build-up to the four-day meeting, which starts in just under two weeks.

“[We must] adhere to the correct political position of directing public opinion and orienting social values,” the statement said, also vowing to continue a crackdown on bad behaviour online.

02:33

How China censors the internet

The statement also warned regulators and internet companies to properly handle “the relationship between security and development”.

They must make use of the internet to help drive economic growth, especially for new industries, and at the same time strengthen content management and control to “prevent various risks and hidden dangers”, it said.

Officials from the CAC’s Beijing headquarters and provincial branches, as well as representatives of leading internet companies attended the meeting.

A few days after the meeting finished, internet platforms started to crack down on ultranationalist comments in the wake of the death of Hu Youping, who tried to stop a knife attack on a Japanese school bus in Suzhou.

Hu’s bravery was applauded by most of the public, but some sporadic anti-Japanese postings described her as a “Japanese spy”.

On Sunday some of the country’s top tech firms, including Tencent, NetEase, Sina Weibo, Douyin – the Chinese version of TikTok – and Phoenix New Media’s news portal Ifeng.com, said they had deleted comments of this nature and banned accounts that promoted hatred and extremism.

Although it is routine for the internet watchdog to keep online opinion in check ahead of major political meetings, the authorities need to tread carefully and not be seen as too aggressive in undermining economic growth, said Alfred Wu, an associate professor at the National University of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.

The Cyberspace Administration of China in Beijing has urged all departments and China’s web platforms to “go all out” to create a “favourable” public opinion environment for the third plenum. Photo: Baidu

“Security is clearly still the top concern ahead of the party plenum. Any incident can create unnecessary attention from the top leadership and result in potential setbacks in the careers of the officials in charge,” Wu said.

“But for the Chinese regulators, now they are also mindful of not going overboard in the security aspect. They probably don’t want to create another saga like the online gaming rule proposal, which caused a major market meltdown.”

In January regulators were forced into a rare reversal after a proposal to limit the amount of time and money people could spend on video games caused the share price of some major companies such as Tencent Holdings and NetEase to plummet.