Guangzhou Requires Private Web Sites to Register with Police, Receive Government Permission to Post News

May 2, 2005

Xinhua reports that Guangzhou's municipal public security bureau issued a "Notice Regarding Centralized Handling of Internet Web Site Registration." According to Xinhua, the Notice requires all Internet information services, including personal Web sites, hosted on servers located in Guangzhou to register (or re-register, if already registered) with Guangzhou's public security bureau before May 31.

The Xinhua article states that, when registering, anyone operating a Web site that posts news on their Web site must provide proof that they have been authorized by the Chinese government to post news on the Internet.