China authorities issued new regulations (in Chinese) on the country’s instant messaging group chats on Thursday, requiring group chat owners to take full responsibility for the management of the groups.
Group chats on WeChat, QQ or Baidu Tieba have become popular in recent years, serving as online forums, given that these platforms provide a private space for discussions. However, Beijing is now taking action to tighten controls over the messaging apps.
The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) released a statement (in Chinese) on its website saying that the managers and owners of the group chats will have to be responsible for the management of the groups. Also, online chat providers must now verify the identities of the users and keep the blogs and logs of the group chats for at least six months.
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