Political suspicions raised as China cracks down on bogus online health info

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Editing and Researching news and stories about global and local Pharmacy Issues

China is notable for its authoritarian approach to the Internet and other forms of media communications.
Restrictions on Internet activity may have some long-term implications for Australia, particularly as these restrictions are intruding into the health arena.
Source: Tech.Blorge

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Political suspicions raised as China cracks down on bogus online health infoThe Chinese government has imposed tight regulations to ensure accuracy on health advice sites. But particular rules for sexual health sites have raised suspicion that the move is part of wider efforts to control the Internet.

As of Wednesday, all Chinese health-related sites must be licensed by local health authorities with a license renewal every two years. The groups behind the sites must be established in their field and must have at least two staff with knowledge of Chinese health laws.

Sites will be required to ensure that the information they provide is “scientific and accurate” and must take responsibility for the accuracy of any sites they link to. They’ll also need official permission to carry any medical licensing.

Several reports say the new rules block any public access to sexual health information. According to the Wall Street Journal’s interpretation of the regulations (taken from the original Chinese), that isn’t the case. However, sites carrying such information will need a qualified doctor on staff, and get independent approval of their content’s accuracy.

The sites that are being blocked from the public are those featuring research on sexual issues. These must be set-up so that access is restricted to relevant medical professionals.

Breaching the regulations risks a $4,400 fine, with the possibility of more serious action for repeated breaches.

On the face of it, the validity of such rules would come down to a simple argument between the benefits of improving online health accuracy and the drawbacks of restricting free speech. If the same policy was set-up to give an accreditation logo to sites meeting the guidelines rather than banning those which didn’t, it might win favor in many Western nations.

However, given China’s continued record of attempting to censor the Internet, it’s not hard to see why people would be suspicious of the moves. As demonstrated by the Green Dam filter debacle, which includes political opposition movements in its list of ‘pornography’, the government has the power because it gets to decide how to interpret the rules. With China’s record, it’s difficult to trust that government decisions on what health information and sources to allow will truly be based on purely medical grounds.