BEIJING (Sputnik) — China’s state-run Internet watchdog said it will ban online accounts that impersonate public figures, organizations and media outlets starting March 1, in a bid to enforce the online use of real names.
The Cyberspace Administration of China said in a statement, posted on its official website on Wednesday, that fake media and foreign leaders’ accounts were used to disseminate lies among China’s fast growing Internet audience.
It cited pseudo accounts of Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Barack Obama as examples, saying these webpages violated the rights of people they impersonated.
China has the world's fastest growing online population and the largest number of Internet users. Almost 650 billion people in China have access to the web, which is roughly half of its population.
