China began requiring identification on Wednesday from anyone purchasing a new mobile phone number in what it says is a bid to stamp out rampant junk messages but that some say gives the government a new tool for monitoring its citizens.
The rules apply to everyone, including foreigners visiting China for a short stay, the China Daily newspaper reported.
The paper said the regulation was “the latest campaign by the government to curb the global scourge of spam, pornographic messages and fraud on cellular phones.”
But some say China is looking for a way to track people who might spontaneously join protests. Users could previously buy low-cost mobile phone SIM cards anonymously with cash at convenience stores and newspaper stands and use them right away.
“I think the government has an eye on Iran where protests were fueled by text messages and Twitter and they are doing this for social stability reasons,” said Wang Songlian, research coordinator with the Hong Kong-based Chinese Human Rights Defenders.
She added that the new requirement fits a pattern of tightening government control over new communication technologies.
China censors Internet content it deems politically sensitive and blocks many websites, including Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Following ethnic riots in far western China’s Xinjiang, international phone service and the Internet in the region were suspended for months.
The new regulation probably won’t impact Chinese dissidents, many of whom already have their phones closely monitored, but it could help police track down ordinary people who take part in protests, Wang said. China has seen a growing number of protests sparked by labor disagreements, anger over pollution or other issues.
The ID requirement is also raising new privacy concerns and will likely upset some customers unwilling to give personal information to vendors and telecom companies for fear it will be resold, said Duncan Clark, managing director of BDA China Ltd., a technology market research firm.
China is far from alone, however. Similar rules have been implemented in several Asian, European and Latin American countries, often after phones were used to detonate bombs, organize terrorist attacks, or conduct criminal activities. Federal legislation has been introduced in the U.S., where prepaid phones have long been used by drug dealers. In many places, however, the rules are easily skirted with fake IDs or false names varies from place to place.
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By Alexa Olesen, The Washington Post
