China has launched a new app that will allow citizens to report others who criticize the ruling Chinese Communist Party or question its account of history online.
Released by China’s cyber regulator, along with a similar hotline, the app aims to crack down on ‘historical nihilists’ ahead of the Party’s 100th anniversary in July, the regulator said in a statement on Friday.
An arm of Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said the app and hotline will allow and encourage citizens to report fellow internet users who spread ‘mistaken opinions’ online in order to create a ‘good public opinion atmosphere’.
Such offences would include ‘distorting’ the Party’s history, attacking its leadership and policies, defaming national heroes and ‘deny the excellence of advanced socialist culture’ online, the notice said.
“For a while now, some people with ulterior motives… have spread historically nihilistic false statements online, maliciously distorting, slandering and denying Party, national and military history in an attempt to confuse people’s thinking.”
“We hope that the majority of Internet users will actively play their part in supervising society … and enthusiastically report harmful information,” it said.
READ more: China launches new app allowing citizens to report others for expressing “mistaken opinions”