On November 6, 2014, the state-sponsored Global Times website published an article entitled “Chinese Websites Promise to Tighten Comments Management.” Some excerpts:
The following screenshots were taken on November 29, 2014, and show some of the comments made by Global Times readers on the article “US Self-Belief Not a Model for China.”
[N.B. - Readers should not infer from the following selection that these comments were representative of the Global Times views, nor is there any implication that the selection below is representative of comments on the Global Times website generally. It is suggested that readers visit the article in question and see the comments in context.].
Twenty-nine major Chinese websites have promised to better manage the comments of their users as authorities call for a clean Internet.According to a Xinhua report, the Huanqiu Wang (环球网 - the online version of the Global Times) was one of the signatories of the Self-Discipline Commitment Letter on Administration of Discussion and Commentary (跟帖评论自律管理承诺书 - English translation available here -http://blog.feichangdao.com/2014/11/translation-self-discipline-commitment.html), in which the Global Times committed to “ensure that views exchanged in comments and opinions are civil, rational, amicable, and of high quality.”
Representatives from the 29 web portals, including Tencent.com, Sohu.com, 163.com and the official website of Xinhua News Agency, signed the letter of commitment at a meeting organized by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) on Thursday.
. . . .
The letter asks them to remind web users not to release 18 categories of information that "are against basic principles established by the Constitution," such as information jeopardizing national security, leaking national secrets or instigating ethnic hatred or discrimination.
The following screenshots were taken on November 29, 2014, and show some of the comments made by Global Times readers on the article “US Self-Belief Not a Model for China.”
[N.B. - Readers should not infer from the following selection that these comments were representative of the Global Times views, nor is there any implication that the selection below is representative of comments on the Global Times website generally. It is suggested that readers visit the article in question and see the comments in context.].
