Today, 5 February 2025, Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) and ARTICLE 19 issued an analysis of the proposed Internet ID Measure in China. Although not yet adopted, if enacted, the measure will further restrict online freedom of expression and access to information, hinder the work of human rights defenders, breach international human rights standards, and risk adding to increasingly repressive internet governance norms internationally.
On 26 July, 2024, the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) and the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) jointly released a draft provision, the Management Measure on National Network Identity Authentication Public Service (‘Internet ID Measure’). The Internet ID measures would require internet users to register through the MPS-developed National Network Identity Authentication Pilot Edition App (‘Internet ID App’) using their national identification card and facial recognition. Over 80 apps began trialing the new authentication system within days of the draft’s release, including 10 public service platforms and 71 commercial applications. Major platforms such as WeChat, Xiaohongshu (RedNote), Taobao, and Zhaopin were among the early adopters.
‘Just like a frog in slowly heating water, citizens in China – including human rights defenders – face gradually tightening restrictions in the online space. The proposed Internet ID Measure represents another turn of the heat, expanding state control over user identity and making it easier than ever to silence dissent. UN bodies and civil society must act now and urge Beijing to abandon this and other rights-eroding internet laws,’ said Shane Yi, researcher for CHRD.
‘We have already witnessed how China’s Cybersecurity Law has influenced rising digital authoritarianism around the world, in the creeping adoption of cyber sovereignty data regulations and pro-surveillance real name registration requirements, among others. The adoption of this centralised approach to identity verification risks further emulation of repressive digital norms as China pushes to remold internet governance in its own repressive image,’ said Michael Caster, ARTICLE 19’s Head of Global China Programme.
The Internet ID Measure consists of 16 articles, which the MPS and CAC claim are designed to strengthen the implementation of China’s 2017 Cybersecurity Law, among other provisions, including provisions from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), which all require varying forms of identity verification.
The new Internet ID Measure extends centralised control over the digital spaces from the point of internet connection. When users register on the Internet ID App and use the web number and certificate to access other apps and services, they grant the government access to their entire digital trail. This centralised identity verification system effectively provides the MPS and CAC with enhanced capability to monitor China’s 1.1 billion internet users, as well as people from Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and other foreign nationals once they register on the Internet ID App.
If adopted, the measure would increase state surveillance and reduce anonymity, putting already at-risk human rights defenders at even greater threat of reprisal. It will centralise control to further aid censorship of unwanted dissenting voices online. It provides for no accountability to address myriad privacy concerns, and risks extraterritorial applications. The proposed Internet ID Measure is at odds with international human rights norms.
CHRD and ARTICLE 19 call on China to revise the laws and regulations on internet governance and cybersecurity to align with international human rights standards.
For more information:
Michael Caster, Head of Global China Programme, [email protected]
Shane Yi, Researcher, China Human Rights Defenders, [email protected]