Mobile app developers in China hit with draconian new rules

Censor users, monitor everything they do, and keep records for 60 days, demand Chinese internet regulators

Mobile app developers in China will have to monitor users and keep records of their activities for 60 days under draconian new rules introduced by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC).

The rules have been introduced, according to CAC, in a bid to stop the "unscrupulous" use of mobile platforms for fraud, as well as cracking down on the distribution of pornography and controlling the spread of "malicious rumours". The move will strengthen further Chinese government control over the internet and control the development and distribution of apps used for encrypted communications.

According to Reuters, mobile app developers will have to verify user identities with a real-name registration regime, and save user activity logs for 60 days - it's not yet known how far-reaching that stipulation may be.

They will also be required to closely monitor users of their apps under a demand to increase censorship and "punish" users who spread what the CAC called "illicit information" on their platforms.

"A small number of apps have been exploited by criminal types to spread violence and terrorism, pornographic material, rumors and other illegal information," the regulator claimed.

The Chinese government has been pushing a "real names" policy for some time. In February 2015, it was revealed that the Chinese government was extending its mandatory real-name policy for main internet service providers to cover pretty much anything that anyone might publish online.

Not surprisingly, technology businesses in China have complained that the new controls will undermine a fast-growing sector.

It comes at the same time when the Chinese government has moved to more justifiably regulate search results following the death of a man from cancer, who complained of misleading results on the Baidu search engine. The regulations include the requirement that paid search results be clearly identified.

Wei Zexi, who died in April from a rare form of cancer, claimed that Baidu's search results had led him to seek treatment from a Beijing hospital that treated him with what proved to be ineffective, yet expensive, therapy.

According to the Xinhua News Agency, Baidu removed 126 million pages promoting medical information and 2,518 suspect medical institutes from its search results. It added that it would "no longer rank promotional results solely on bidding prices".

Other measures introduced to whip Baidu into line, according to Xinhua, include requirements that: "All paid-for search results must be labelled clearly and checks on advertisers should be improved, according to the regulation. There should also be a limit on the number of paid-for results on a single page. Moreover, the practice of blocking negative content concerning advertisers has been banned."