China adopts stricter internet security law

China on Monday passed a new law that regulates internet security. Among other things, the law deals with the protection of the country’s infrastructure against foreign attacks. Critics argue that the law can affect freedom on the internet too much.

According to China’s Xinhua news agency, the law passed Monday requires the government to take steps to monitor and counteract and monitor cybersecurity risks and threats, whether they come from within the country or outside of China. . In addition, the law regulates the protection of critical infrastructure against attacks, intrusion, disruption and damage.

In addition, the law punishes people and organizations that endanger internet security and harm ‘national security, honor and interests’. Online activities that fuel terrorism and extremism are also prohibited, as is the dissemination of ‘obscene information’.

The law will enter into force in June 2017. Civil rights organization Human Rights Watch argues that the law restricts freedom on the internet too much and that the Chinese government has barely adapted the law to criticism. Foreign IT companies, among others, fear the effects of the law because of passages that impose requirements on systems for critical IT infrastructure, Reuters writes. Administrators of that infrastructure must store personal information and important data in China, provide special technical support and go through national security screenings. Companies fear that they will have to build in backdoors or give up intellectual property.