Officials Order Hotels To Step Up Monitoring and Censorship of Internet

Over the last year, public security officials across China have ordered hotels, guesthouses, and other places offering Internet access on a "non-commercial" (fei jingying xing) basis to comply with existing Internet regulations and install Internet security systems capable of monitoring and censoring users' Internet activities. A recent search of public documents online found official notices to that effect and reports of related public security campaigns in Wuxi city, Jiangsu province (reported July 25, 2007), Shenzhen city, Guangdong province (issued August 1, 2007), Jining city, Shandong province (issued December 12, 2007), Zibo city, Shandong province (issued December 14, 2007), Dongguan city, Guangdong province (issued December 26, 2007), Shunde district, Foshan city, Guangdong province (issued January 7, 2008), Dongying city, Shandong province (issued March 20, 2008), Xintai city, Shandong province (reported May 16, 2008), and Yiyuan county, Zibo, Shandong province (issued June 20, 2008). In a report titled "Strengthen Hotel and Guest House Internet Security Supervision, Laws To Make It Happen, Beijing Olympics Closing In, Public Security Extends Strength of Internet Security Supervision at Hotels and Guesthouses in Each Area," a Chinese technology industry Web site noted that Shanghai (May 12, 2008), Anqing city, Anhui province (beginning of 2007), Liuzhou city, Guangxi province (reported March 27, 2008), and Lianyungang city, Jiangsu province (March 17, 2008), among others, had also taken similar measures.

Though the orders do not directly refer to the Olympics, many specify that hotels and guesthouses must complete installation of Internet security systems before China hosts the games in August. The Zibo notice, for example, requires hotels and guesthouses to comply by February 2008, while other places covered by the notice have until October. The Dongying notice provides a similar requirement, with hotels and guesthouses required to comply before April 2008, while others have until October. In the case of Dongguan, hotels and other places were required to have installed network security supervision systems by May 31, 2008, before inspections that began on June 1. Shunde's notice announced that inspections would begin in March and that those found not to be in compliance could be fined or forced to close.

The notices and reports indicate that hotels and guesthouses have been ordered to do one or more of the following:

• Install Internet security supervision technology and systems recommended by public security officials and that meet government standards. Such systems must be able to record users' login and logoff times, dial-up number, account number, Internet address or domain name, and registration information; send data to a reporting center run by public security officials; discover and stop transmission of "illegal information"; and retain records of users' Internet activities for 60 days, in compliance with the Provisions on Internet Security Protection Technology Measures issued in 2005.
• Improve procedures to deal with Internet security incidents and trace responsibility. In some areas, hotels and other places are ordered to notify public security officials within 24 hours of discovering such an incident.
• Set up departments and designate personnel responsible for the Internet security supervision system and ensure that personnel are qualified and well-trained.
• Sign a pledge to implement the Internet security technology measures. At a December 7, 2007, meeting convened by the Jining City Public Security Bureau more than 20 hotels and guesthouses in attendance signed such a pledge.

These measures alone do not necessarily violate international human rights standards. The measures may help officials combat pornography, online gambling, invasions of privacy, and intellectual property violations, all of which are prohibited under Chinese regulations. The measures, however, also may further assist officials in carrying out censorship of politically sensitive information on the Internet and punishing Internet users who criticize the Chinese government or Communist Party online, in violation of international human rights standards for freedom of expression. Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which China signed and has committed to ratify, permits states to restrict freedom of expression only if necessary to respect the rights or reputations of others or protect national security, public order, or public health or morals. China's restrictions on peaceful political expression on the Internet violate Article 19.

For more information on China's imprisonment of online critics and censorship of the Internet in general, see "Internet Censorship" in Section II - Freedom of Expression, in the Congressional-Executive Commission on China's 2007 Annual Report.