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New regulations on Internet user accounts are implemented The owner's professional information must be consistent with the real profession

Pei Yu, a reporter of this newspaper, reported from Beijing

The regulation and governance of the Internet content ecology is continuing to advance.

On June 27, the State Internet Information Office (hereinafter referred to as the "Cyberspace Administration") issued the Provisions on the Administration of Internet User Account Information (hereinafter referred to as the Provisions), further delineating the bottom line and red line of Internet user registration, use, and management of account information by Internet information service providers, clarifying responsibilities and obligations, and maintaining a good ecosystem in cyberspace.

A number of Internet text and video content platform people told reporters that some of the "technical" provisions in the "Provisions" will have an impact on the current production mode and operation mode of the Internet content platform, and the platform is adjusting and improving its own operation and management rules in accordance with the requirements of the "Provisions", and will successively put forward new requirements for account owners and operators. A person in charge of the content department of an Internet platform company told reporters.

Considered to have an important impact is the provisions of the Provisions that require information on the true profession of account owners. Article 7 of the Provisions requires: Where individual Internet users register or use account information, and contain professional information, it shall be consistent with the personal real professional information; Internet establishment users' registration and use of account information shall be consistent with the organization's name, logo, and so forth, and with the nature of the institution, its business scope, and the type of industry to which it belongs.

Article 11 of the Provisions requires that Internet information service providers shall require that Internet users apply for registration to provide Internet news information services, online publishing services, and other Internet information services that require administrative permission in accordance with law, or that they apply to register accounts engaged in the production of information content in the economic, educational, medical, health, judicial, and other fields, Internet information service providers shall require them to provide service qualifications, professional qualifications, professional backgrounds, and other relevant materials, verify them, and add special labels to the account information.

"In the Internet content ecology, a trend of vertical development in accordance with the industry or field has been formed, many accounts have expressed their views on professional issues, there is a certain appeal, and some are already industry big V, but among them, there are some accounts whose identity and professional information do not match the real situation, for example, an account based on medical content claims to be a doctor in the content, and the professional information filled in is also a doctor, but his real occupation is not a doctor, and there is no corresponding practice qualification." The head of the content department of the aforementioned Internet platform company told reporters.

In his view, in this case, the influence of the account owner in the field, the doctor's "professional identity" plays a big role, and if the professional information is false, there is a problem of misleading users. "That is, one of the sources of influence– authority is fictitious." He further explained.

Such situations are widely present on various Internet content platforms, including text accounts, video accounts, and live broadcast and Q&A platforms. With traffic monetization becoming one of the current operating models of the Internet, the account owners of these fictitious professional information have profited by "bringing goods" and "recommending professional services", and even swindled, disrupting market order and harming the legitimate rights and interests of the public.

The relevant person in charge of the Cyberspace Administration of China said that at present, some users have engaged in illegal acts such as swindling and cheating by fabricating false identities and false professional information in account information, harming the legitimate rights and interests of the public. In this regard, the Provisions require that when the account information registered and used by individual Internet users contains professional information, it should be consistent with the personal real professional information.

A person from an MCN agency told reporters that the "Provisions" not only require the professional information in the account to be consistent with the real professional situation, but also require the platform to clearly identify service qualifications, professional qualifications, professional backgrounds, etc. for accounts with specific field content, which is conducive to the audience to identify the professionalism of the account and make a rational and correct judgment on the output content of the account.

"For the ecological chain of the industry will have a greater impact, such as operating a medical account, the platform will require the corresponding physician practice qualification certificate when registering, and if it cannot be provided, it will not be recognized as a professional identity, and the authority of the occupational identity blessing in the future operation will be reduced a lot, which does play a role in purifying the network ecology, and as an operating institution, it must be compliant." She said.

The relevant person in charge of the Cyberspace Administration of China said that the accounts that provide Internet news information services, network publishing services and other Internet information services, as well as accounts engaged in the production of information content in the economic, educational, medical and health, judicial and other fields, are not only highly professional, but also closely related to the personal and property safety of the people.

Previously, the State Administration of Radio and Television and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism issued the Code of Conduct for Network Anchors, article 13 of which requires that for live broadcast content that requires a higher professional level (such as medical and health, finance and finance, law, education), anchors should obtain corresponding professional qualifications and report their professional qualifications to the live broadcast platform, and the live broadcast platform should review and file the qualifications of the anchors.

A number of Internet content platform people have said that all along, the regulatory authorities have been stricter in the management of information release and account identity in the above areas, and the platform has also set more stringent standards when performing its main responsibilities, and then they will further improve the relevant regulations and verification and publicity workflows.

It is worth noting that the regulatory authorities have also put forward requirements for the management of existing accounts. Article 15 of the Provisions clearly states that Internet information service providers shall establish a dynamic verification system for account information, verify existing account information in a timely manner, and where it is found that the requirements of these Provisions are not met, they shall suspend the provision of services and notify users to make corrections within a time limit; Where corrections are refused, the provision of services shall be terminated.

This means that the provisions on the management of occupational information are not only for new accounts after the promulgation and implementation of the Provisions, but also for existing accounts that have already been registered.

The relevant person in charge of the Cyberspace Administration of China said that there are many Internet users in the mainland, the account base is large, and the account information is dynamically changing in the process of users using accounts. If the account information lacks an effective verification mechanism, illegal and bad information will be easily disseminated, causing adverse effects on the network ecology. In this regard, the Provisions require Internet information service providers to establish a dynamic verification system for account information, verify the account information submitted by users at the time of registration, those to be changed during use, and the amount of memory on the website platform, and clarify the situation of strict verification, strengthen the verification of account information from the whole process of registration, use and management, and plug loopholes in the dissemination of illegal and bad information.

(Editor: Hao Cheng Proofreader: Zhang Guogang)