Chinese Government Rules on Criticism
The following are the proposed rules from the Chinese Government on criticism of the Government in 2008:
- If you wish to significantly criticise the Government you must register with the Government and provide your name, address and contact details.
- Political parties and candidates are banned from publishing their views on any government issue.
- Regulated criticism shall include any advertisement, any message handed out or displayed, any message sent to any member of the public, delivered to a member of the public or left at the house of a member of the public, any broadcast, any film, any video, any non-personal Internet message and any electronic message.
- Regulated criticism includes any message advocating a vote against a party in Government, or against any proposition associated with the Government.
- Commercial advertising which is not in accord with Government policy is also regulated and restricted.
- Critics must notify the Government of the name and address of their agent who shall be held accountable for their criticisms.
- The names, addresses and contact details of any significant donors to the criticising organisation must be revealed to the Government or face a $40,000 fine.
- If a critic receives over $500 from an undisclosed source, they must hand that money over to the Government.
- Any placards in a protest march must have the name and address of the person who approved them in the placard.
- Minor critics do not need to register with the Government so long as they swear a statutory declaration that they will spend less than 10% of a significant critic.
- A significant critic is restricted to two full page advertisements per year. Criticism beyond this level is illegal and can result in jail terms.
- It shall be illegal for any publisher to accept an advertisement which criticises the Government, or any policy associated with it, unless the critic has registered or signs the aforementioned statutory declaration.
- Breaches of the anti-criticism law are punishable by up to a year in jail.
Boy I’m glad I live in a country where a Government would never try and pass a law as draconian as the Chinese one.