#Newspaper

China to Further Tighten Internet Media Restriction Next Year

(02-Dec) The rapid development of network media has allowed information to be readily accessible. However, this has also caused severe problems such as spreading of fake news. Recently, the Chinese Government has issued a new regulatory measure to further tighten restrictions on social media, especially on the restrictions regarding the distribution of false information. They hope they could provide stronger political thought guidance to the public.

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People's Republic of China and the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television jointly issued the "Administrative Regulations on Internet, Audio and Visual Information Services". The Regulations impose a broad prohibition on the production and publication of fake news and information. It indicates, if the service provider and the users use technologies, such as artificial intelligence or virtual reality to produce, publish or distribute images or media, they must specify the use of such technologies. Such technologies are also prohibited in the production of any false news.

Apart from the above restrictions, the service providers must also conduct multimedia security assessment following national regulations to identify any illegal or untrue information. Besides, the service providers are required to establish a mechanism to prevent the generation false information. Providers fail to comply with regulations will be prosecuted and would be held criminally liable for any violations.

The new regulations would become effective on 01-January next year. The Authorities explained that this regulation is to provide stronger political thought guidance to the netizens, including people working in information subscription or social media platforms and influential KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders).

#CyberspaceCensorship, #StateCensorship

Source: Uwire HK (02-Dec)
https://bit.ly/2r5hPFw

China Tightens Up Control on Smartphone Users

Summary: China tightens up controls of identity verification procedures for telephone and internet users, requiring new customers to go through facial recognition scanning. Oxford scholar considers that the authority wants to prevent internet frauds but also aims for close tracking and monitoring of the telecommunication users.

(01-Dec) With immediate effect, Mainland China will tighten up the real-name registration management of smart telephone users. Citizens are required to undergo facial recognition validation to confirm identity upon application for telephone network services.

China citizens are required to present identity cards and take photographs on the spot when they buy new smart phones or sign new internet contracts with ISP providers currently. With the new requirements coming into effect, they need to go through facial scan to match up with the identity documentation before they can successfully complete the telecommunication services connection procedures.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced back in September that with effective on the 1st of December, ISP providers are required to adopt AI facial recognition technology to validate the identity of customers for the implementation of the Anti-terrorism law and Cyber Security law.

The authorities emphasize that the new requirement aims at ensuring better protection of the legal rights of telecommunications service users in the cyberspace through prevention of illegal speculative resale of phone cards and identity theft for application of telecom services without knowledge of the genuine identity of the owners.

The three largest telecommunications operators China Mobile, China Unicom and China Telecommunications Corporations indicate that they will proactively execute the new requirements to build up cyberspace integrity.

Mainland authorities have been strengthening cyberspace enforcement in recent years to ensure every internet service user is registered in real name. Internet platform administrators and operators were required to verify the users’ identity before allowing them to post and express anything on the internet two years ago.

Oxford University scholar believes that one of the reasons why the mainland authority wants to eliminate anonymous applications for mobile phone access is to strengthen cyber control thus reduce cyber frauds, another reason is to make it easier for tracking and monitoring smart phone and internet users.

Some netizens criticise the increasingly stringent cyber censorship. They query what the government is afraid of. There are also people who point out that there could be victims of facial image leaks in the future. However, those who support the government consider that it is an advancement in technology.

Source: Now TV news 1 Dec 2019
https://bit.ly/2Rc2VYM

#CyberspaceCensorship, #StateCensorship, #PRCCyberSpaceSecurityLaw, #FacialRecognition, #ArtificialIntelligence

#Newspaper

[State Censorship in Wuhan 1/2]
Fewer Confirmed People: Wuhan Pneumonia Epidemic Outbreaks
Wuhan doctors: draconian reporting criteria, they said we report too many cases

Editorial note: this is an excerpt of various PRC media sources showing how Wuhan Public Health Commission tightening up the criteria for upward escalation of Wuhan pneumonia and how the changed requirements affect the numbers of new confirmed cases. Authorities can continue to play around their own ‘clinical definitions’ to manipulate whether and how many new confirmed cases to fit political purpose.

Summary: In a news report titled as “Changes in Clinical Diagnosis Standards of the New Coronavirus: draconian initial diagnosis standards. Doctors are criticised by leadership of local hospitals for reporting too many cases.” published by PRC media Bin Dian Weekly, many doctors pointed out that patients need to fulfil 4 “clinical performances” simultaneously additional to at least one of the 4 epidemiological history requirements after many different tests before they can be included as cases. There are patients who can’t meet the criteria even their lungs are entirely whitened up by infiltrates.

The later hospitalised patients have been allowed for walking anywhere outside for more than a week. Those doctors who disregarded these draconian criteria by reporting the cases were harshly criticised by the local leadership teams of their own hospitals for ‘reporting too many cases’. Subsequent tests revealed that 60% of the (suspicious) cases being reported had been confirmed as coronavirus infections.

Continue reading:
https://telegra.ph/Fewer-Confirmed-People-Wuhan-Pneumonia-Epidemic-Outbreaks-Wuhan-doctors-draconian-reporting-criteria-they-said-we-report-too-man-02-28

Source: CNews (26-Feb)
https://bit.ly/38X1uDv

#Coronavirus #StateCensorship #Wuhan

#Newspaper

[State Censorship in Wuhan 2/2]
Wuhan doctor: patients are forced out from hospitals to speed up turnaround of beds: doctors who spread news have their posts being deleted by state censorship

Editorial note: HKCnews manages to capture the full content of the doctor’s post before it was deleted under state censorship of CCP. This is the translation of the full content of the censored article. The message is clear-CCP is on the dangerous path of the new Great Leap “Forward” road where party ideology and political correctness prevail integrity of medical diagnosis. In order to meet and self-fulfil CCP’s urge to show ‘significant’ achievement of combating the virus, hospitals and doctors are pressured to falsify patients’ pathological records.

Summary: Dīngxiāng yuán (http://www.dxy.cn/bbs/index.html) is an online forum for medical and nursing staff in PRC. Some time ago, a front line doctor from Wuhan posted a message titled with “I am at the frontline of combating the virus”, and pointed out that hospitals there falsified patients’ actual conditions in order to improve the discharge rates. Even though in cases where the medical imaging results showed no improvement in the patients’ lungs, doctors were pressured to conclude having ‘explicit improvement’ in the discharge reports. The post also mentioned that some hospitalised patients were discharged even they were still relying on oxygen to breath and struggling to walk moments ago. Patients were forced out of the hospitals in order to meet certain documented criteria for discharge of patients. The doctor’s post has been deleted under state censorship of CCP.

Continue reading:
https://telegra.ph/Wuhan-doctor-patients-are-forced-out-from-hospitals-to-speed-up-turnaround-of-beds-doctors-who-spread-news-have-their-posts-bein-02-28

Source: HKCNews
https://bit.ly/2TsZSe4

Further reading:
Revised reporting criteria for COVID-19 cases leads to some questions from scientists
https://t.me/guardiansofhongkong/17928
#Wuhan #Coronavirus #StateCensorship #DischargeRate

#OpinionArticle #HungHoFung

China blames the world for not containing COVID-19 (Wuhan Coronavirus)

(26 Feb) Because China failed to contain the coronavirus in its early stage, the nationwide outbreak is now a global outbreak. The scale of impact on the global economy is still unclear, but it must be significant.

For those lovers unable to meet up due to cancelled trips, companies unable to fulfill orders due to the Chinese supply chain collapse, workers unable to report to duty due to quarantines, and patients killed by Wuhan Pneumonia, who should be responsible for their losses, mentally and physically?

The pandemic is neither an accident nor a natural occurence. It is a man-made disaster caused by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). This kind of calamity is not new to the CCP.

Continue:
https://telegra.ph/China-blames-the-world-for-not-containing-COVID-19-Wuhan-Coronavirus-03-02

Image:Banksy
Source: RFA (26-02)
https://bit.ly/2IeRQ3w

#CCP #Autocracy #GlobalOutbreak #Coronavirus #StateCensorship

As the pandemic continues and data from affected countries around the world are analyzed, the accuracy of official coronavirus data provided by China is being scrutinized. With the US under the firm grip of the virus, US intelligence officials are now claiming China has been underreporting cases in the country.

There are many people in China currently not being tested for the virus, the actual number of contagion cases can be much higher than the official figures. In addition, since the public health system in China has been overly stretched, many sick people are not hospitalised. Death outside the public health systems are unaccounted for. Stringent state and CCP censorship on reporting of the virus prevents truthful reflection of the actual pathological records and causes of death. The overall picture of actual accumulated cases and mortality rate relating to the coronavirus may be significantly understated. This should be noted in comparing the virus trends between China and other countries.

Sources:
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/01/coronavirus-china-hid-extent-of-outbreak-us-intelligence-reportedly-says.html

https://www.hkcnews.com/article/27123/武漢肺炎-確診病例-武漢衛健委-27124/【武漢肺炎大爆發】確診人數少-武漢醫生：上報標準苛刻-嫌我們報太多

https://time.com/5811222/wuhan-coronavirus-death-toll/

https://youtu.be/mzIvmhW9R6o

#Coronavirus #WuhanPneumonia
#StateCensorship

#Newspaper

The first civil rights activist! Civil servant accuses Hubei Province government of concealing the truth, was called (summoned) to “talk”: "It will be great to win, but there shall be no regrets if I lose"

(17 Apr)While China (CCP) keeps promoting its efforts fighting against the Wuhan Pneumonia and hiding its responsibility by concealing facts and true figures resulting in a global pandemic, a civil servant from Hubei Province stands as the first activist by lodging a prosecution against the government for its concealment of truth. The activist emphasizes the Hubei government must be liable for the outbreak of Wuhan Pneumonia and the damages to the people. It was later revealed that the civil servant was, on the night of the day he filed the prosecution, “called (summoned)” by the Police to “talk”, and forced to sign a commitment promising not to discuss any case details on the internet.

According to the indictment, the first civil rights activist, who is named Tan Jun (phonetic), is a civil servant working at Yichang Children Park management office. He told the media that he had filed the indictment to the Xiling District Court, Yichang, on 13th day morning, accusing the Hubei Province government of having concealed the truth that the Wuhan Pneumonia can spread across human, hosted Lianghui (2 meetings) at Wuhan on 11th and 12th January, carried out the 10,000-Family Banquet at the Baibuting with 40,000 participating families. The government’s decision led to people exposed to the deadly virus, and so caused substantial loss to life and property.

The activist highlighted certain evidence on the table including there was a notice on 11th January 2020 by the Hubei Health Commission asserting no medical staff was infected and no spreading between humans were recorded; however, according to the “investigation into Doctor Li Wenliang incident” published on 19th March by the National Supervisory Commission, Wuhan Pneumonia was confirmed in December 2019 to be able to spread between humans.

Full translation: https://telegra.ph/Wuhan-Pneumonia-The-first-civil-rights-activist-Civil-servant-accuses-Hubei-Province-government-of-concealing-the-truth-was-call-04-18

Source: Apple Daily News
https://bit.ly/2VCNvxm

#Hubei #CivilRightsActivist #TanJun #Coronavirus #StateCensorship