Party and State: Seven Baselines For a Cleaner, Safer Internet

Friday, August 30, 2013

Seven Baselines For a Cleaner, Safer Internet

CMP, The Chinese Media Project takes a look at the Seven Baselines (七条底线)that were proposed at the China Internet Conference earlier this month.

Evidence, if evidence were needed that Chinese officials don't actually understand the Internet, the seven principles are supposed to give internet celebs a rough idea of the way that they might create a positive influence through their posts. A meeting was held earlier this month with a group of the most influential tweeters and bloggers on the Chinese Internet, and high profile arrests of online rumor mongers were made.

The seven baselines are:

1. The Base Line of Laws and Regulations
2. The Base Line of the Socialist System
3. The Base Line of National Interests
4. The Base Line of Citizens' Legal Rights and Interests
5. The Base Line of Public Order
6. The Moral Base Line
7. The Base Line of Information Accuracy

Luckily for the good folks at Xinhua, and other esteemed Chinese news outlets, accuracy is bottom of the list.

August has seen the tightening of several Internet controls, with officials clamping down on the spread of unauthorized information on social media sites like Weibo. Last week, authorities announced plans to target WeChat users gossiping in chat rooms. With voice chat apps in the firing line, Chinese netizens can only speculate as to were the crackdown on gossiping about the political elite will end.