The regulations, which were jointly issued by the CAC and the Ministry of Public Security, the National Radio and Television Administration and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, will take effect in August.
They reaffirm the requirement for internet users to be identified by their real names and asked internet information service providers – such as the parent companies of social media and newsfeed platforms – not to provide services to anonymous users.
The rules also call for online news publishers to promote public awareness of online abuse, censor comments in advance and cut off live broadcasts containing violent information. Publishers must immediately correct any news related to cyber violence that is “untrue” or “unfair”, according to the provisions.
Online abuse of minors will receive special attention and priority under the new rules.
The regulations refer to cyber violence as “text, images, audio and video” that are “insulting, slanderous, defamatory, inciting hatred, threatening, violating privacy, and ridiculing, degrading and discriminating against others, affecting their physical and mental health”.
In a follow-up statement on Sunday, the CAC said the regulations were in response to proposals made by delegates during the “two sessions” in March – the annual gathering of the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.
The CAC added that the provisions were based on a number of existing laws and would “effectively improve the efficiency of governance”.
China does not yet have a specific anti-cyberbullying law. It regulates online violence through guidelines issued by various government departments and provisions scattered in other legislation, including a guideline introduced in September urging law enforcement agencies to crack down on cyberbullying involving minors.
The 34-point regulations revealed on Friday are the latest move to tackle online abuse after some serious cases sparked public anger.
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And in June last year, a mother in the central city of Wuhan was attacked for wearing flashy clothes after her six-year-old son died in a school bus accident. Her suicide prompted a flood of calls for cyberbullying to be punished, including from several official media outlets.
Other official attempts to combat cyberbullying include a campaign by the ministry in December and another by the CAC in November to combat “hostility online”.
