The massive Chinese social media network Sina Weibo informed its platform’s most popular users last week that they must display their real identities, including names, gender, IP locations, as well as professional and educational background, on their account page starting at the end of October.
The policy will first apply to Weibo users with more than 1 million followers and later extend to those with half a million followers. It is believed that other social media platforms in China will also follow the move.
China implemented the online real-name registration system in 2012. Under the policy, personal data are stored on the platforms and are invisible to other users. Last year, Chinese social media platforms started displaying the IP locations of social media users to crack down on online rumors, including witness accounts of social incidents such as protests.
The latest change was confirmed by Weibo’s CEO Wang Gaofei, who briefly activated the personal information display on his profile page on October 20, 2023. Wang’s social credit status, employment, and professional and educational background were all listed on this profile page.
The new policy triggered a heated debate on Chinese social media. Unexpectedly, online patriots, who are usually fairly united, split into two camps over the new requirements.
Supporters argued that the policy could reduce online rumours and that influencers should bear more social responsibility and reveal their genuine identity to their readers. Among them is state-owned Global Times’ top commentator Hu Xijin, who commented on the new measure on Weibo on October 16:
I’m kind of split on this one tbh. On one hand I can understand wanting to know the background behind influencers, especially influencers who claim to have knowledge or Expertise in some area. Plus a lot of influencers do already share their name and jobs etc.
On the other hand I think it’s outrageous to force people to dox themselves when they hit a certain number of subscribers. I feel like something like this would result in a lot more targeted harassment, especially for women. It’s already dangerous to be a woman on the internet, no need to add a ton of identifying information on top of that. This may end up adding another barrier to marginalized groups of all kinds.