China launches hotline for netizens to report 'illegal' history comments

The tip line allows people to report fellow netizens who "distort" the Party's history, attack its leadership and policies, defame national heroes and "deny the excellence of advanced socialist culture" online, said a notice posted by an arm of the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) on Friday. "Some with ulterior motives ... have been spreading historical nihilistic misrepresentations online, maliciously distorting, denigrating and negating the history of the Party," said the notice.

"We hope that the majority of Internet users will actively play their part in supervising society ... and enthusiastically report harmful information," it said. "Historical nihilism" is a phrase used in China to describe public doubt and skepticism over the Chinese Communist Party's description of past events.

China's internet is tightly censored and most foreign social media networks, search engines and news outlets are banned in the country. Internet authorities often increase censorship and online supervision ahead of major events including historical anniversaries, political meetings and sports events.

The notice did not specify what punishments would be dealt to people who are reported through the hotline, but netizens in China already face jail time and other legal punishments for posting content that is critical of the county's leadership, policies and history. Legal amendments released earlier this year stipulate that people who "insult, slander of infringing upon" the memory of China's national heroes and martyrs face jail time of up to three years.

Last week, authorities in the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu detained a 19-year-old man after making "insulting" comments online about Japan's 1937 occupation of Nanjing. Chinese social media sites that fail to censor critical content also face financial sanctions as well as temporary suspensions of service under current law.