Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Social media accounts belonging to Chinese citizens with large numbers of followers can no longer act carelessly. The latest Chinese government rules require accounts with more than 500 thousand followers to display real names.

The latest regulations will delete the accounts of influencers or parties known as buzzers with a very large number of followers. A number of platform providers have also opened their voices, and confirmed that the policy will begin to apply first to anonymous accounts with more than 1 million followers.

One of those affected by this rule occurs in self-media accounts. This account usually disseminates information related to an issue or event, but is not associated with an official media organization.

This way, self-media accounts cannot move freely on social media. It is also known that the local government has long wanted to eradicate these accounts.

However, there are also those who fully support this new rule. Hu Xijin as editor of state media supports this regulation because influential accounts become more responsible for the information they disseminate, quoted from Reuters, Thursday (2/11/2023).

On the other hand, many are also worried about these regulations. Many people say the new rules could make it easier to practice doxxing in cyberspace.

Many accounts appear anonymous to allow more freedom of expression and dissemination of information in China. They hide behind it when there is an attack in cyberspace.

A number of local social media tried to calm users who had heard of the government’s regulations. For example, Weibo CEO Wang Gaofei confirmed that users with under 500 thousand followers would not be affected.

Meanwhile, Douyin ensures that the platform will only ask for real names, not personal information. So users don’t need to worry about the security of sensitive personal data being spread.

[Gambas:Video CNBC]