Momo will have to adhere to new rules from China’s internet watchdog over what people can say in chat groups.
According to a Quartz report, last week the Cyberspace Administration of China released new rules that say internet companies must assign “credit rating systems” for group chat users.
This “social credit” system would seem to allow those who violate certain rules to have their scores lowered and access rescinded, or reported to the authorities.
Services that will have to respond to these new rules apparently include Momo, WeChat, QQ, Sina Weibo, Baidu Post Bar and Alipay, according to a CNC official.
In a press conference, the official said: “Whoever owns the group should be responsible, and whoever runs the group should be responsible.”
The move comes after a crackdown on VPNs earlier this year in July, and new measures that were announced requiring people to register to services with their real names, according to Quartz.
The latest rules come ahead of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party in October.
The set of measures to assign a credit score system must be in place by 9th October, the CAC said, just before the important leadership congress.
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