中国手机网民规模已超10亿。监管机构于近期接连颁布新规，旨在对移动网络端内容发布展开更有效的管理。
为进一步加强对移动互联网应用程序的依法监管，中国于2022年6月发布新修订的《移动互联网应用程序信息服务管理规定》（“新规”），新规于8月1日起正式实施。
同时，国家互联网信息办公室于6月发布了《互联网跟帖评论服务管理规定（修订草案征求意见稿）》（“草案”），规定跟帖评论服务提供者、跟帖评论服务使用者和公众账号生产运营者不得通过发布、删除、推荐跟帖评论信息以及其他干预跟帖评论信息呈现的手段，侵害他人合法权益或者谋取非法利益。不得利用软件、雇佣商业机构及人员等方式散布信息，恶意干扰跟帖评论正常秩序，误导公众舆论。
这一系列的措施都旨在在互联网迅猛发展的背景下，对互联网平台加强依法监管。
截至2021年6月，中国整体网民规模已达到10.11亿，手机网民规模达到10.07亿。在庞大的使用人群背景下，新的问题也不断涌现。
北京金诚同达律师事务所高级合伙人周俊武律师告诉ALB，由于2016年发布的《移动互联网应用程序信息服务管理规定》已经不能应对日新月异的网络环境，加上中国法治环境也更加健全，对于个人信息的应用及未成年人的保护愈加重视。国家为了适应新环境、衔接近年来的相关立法，颁布了上述新规。
更高的要求
作为创设、运营网络空间的互联网应用平台，自然成为依法监督、控制网络言论的最理想的践行者，因此App新规也对平台主体提出了更高的要求。
“首先，和旧规相比，新规重新定义受监管的服务类型，明确‘应用程序信息服务’ ‘应用程序分发服务’的概念，同时扩大监管范围，除了传统的手机应用程序之外，小程序、浏览器插件等新型应用程序也在受监管的范围之内。因此，微信小程序、微博嵌入小程序等都需更加注意，新规实施之后将被纳入监管。” 周俊武律师解释道。
他接着说道，其次，相较于旧规，平台的义务现在更加明确，新规还增加了新的要求，主要体现在实名认证、舆论监管、个人信息保护及未成年人保护几方面。并且，新规特别提出禁止当下多发的互联网不正当竞争行为，例如通过机器或者人工刷榜、刷量、控评，或者利用违法和不良信息诱导用户下载等。
“这些规定与这几年新颁布或修订的法律法规保持一致，甚至有所细化，更加体现出目前国家对于网络环境，尤其是互联网应用程序的监管动向。” 周律师说。
根据新规，互联网应用平台不仅接受主管部门的监管，应用程序分发平台需上线备案，分类管理，还必须接受社会公众的监督，设置醒目、便捷的投诉举报入口，公布投诉举报方式，健全受理、处置、反馈等机制，及时处理公众投诉举报，并且配合网信部门工作。
周俊武律师指出，“尤其像微博、B站、豆瓣这类用户数量大的头部平台、知名平台是监管的重点对象，也频频遭到约谈，要求停顿整改的更是不在少数。这也警示平台服务提供者，不要抱着侥幸的心理，应尽之职责需要严格遵守，否则将面临相应的法律责任。”
周律师说，“新规实质是根据现行法律体系下有关移动互联网应用程序的规定，做出的体系化、具体化、汇总性的规定，并未脱离或者超出现行法律，因此新规本身并没有新设法律责任，而是在第25条规定：交由 ‘网信部门和有关主管部门在职责范围内依照相关法律法规处理’。”
“如果违反相关规定，平台将遭受主管部门根据互相衔接的法律法规中规定的违规责任进行行政处罚，包括责令改正、罚款等，还可能遭到民事起诉。”周律师接着说道。
合规建议
根据目前的监管内容和风向，除了基础的内容审核、设置投诉举报途径等平台义务之外，周俊武律师对互联网内容平台还有其他六个合规建议。
首先是取得资质。此次新规强调，提供新闻信息服务的应用程序需获得许可资质，同时，提供应用程序分发服务的平台还应对上架的程序，向主管部门进行备案。
第二是实名认证。新规严格要求，提供信息发布服务的平台，应当对用户身份进行实名认证，包括通过手机号码、身份证或者社会统一信用代码的方式。
周俊武律师说，“此举是避免用户恶意发布违法内容，也便于管理及维权。实质上从2017年开始《网络安全法》就已明确要求网络实名，但是本团队在处理相关案件的时候发现，并非所有平台都完全落实该项职责，而对于‘实名’的验证标准也并不一致。有的用户使用国外的电话号码同样被平台认为完成了实名验证，但是国外的电话号码根本不足以让我们定位到具体的用户个人信息，这给公民维权带来极大阻碍。”
第三是制定并公开平台的管理规则，与注册用户签订服务协议，将规则内容纳入协议，明确双方权利义务及责任。
同时，数据安全也是非常重要的一个因素。
“建立健全涉及全流程的数据安全管理制度，采取保障数据安全技术措施和其他安全措施，加强风险监测。” 周俊武律师说。
最后是个人信息保护以及未成年人保护。
对于用户的个人信息，从收集到使用规则须公开，并且均需获得用户同意，遵循最小必要性的原则，无必要的不收集。
“设立关于未成年人使用的功能，防止未成年用户沉迷相关产品或者服务，不得制作、复制、发布、传播含有危害未成年人身心健康内容的信息。除此之外，应用程序分发平台还需注意，平台内应用程序上架前应当做到对上架程序提供者的身份核验、资质核验、内容评估、内容审核，上架后保证提供者信息的公示、内部实施分类管理，同时对含有违法、违规信息的程序进行处罚等。”周律师说道。
由于有关互联网平台义务与责任的规定并不限于新规，周俊武律师最后提醒并建议，“每一个互联网内容平台需定期学习了解新的政策规定”。
PROTECTION FOR PLATFORM USERS
China currently has more than 1 billion mobile users and an exploding social media scene. To better regulate content on these platforms and protect users, the authorities have brough in new rules.
China has issued newly revised rules governing mobile apps in June 2022 that took effect on Aug. 1. The new rules aim to further strengthen the regulation of mobile apps and internet platforms.
In addition, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) released draft rules for internet posting and commenting services in June. It said that posting and commenting services providers, as well as holders of public accounts, should not infringe on the interests of others or seek illegal benefits by publishing, deleting and recommending posts. They shall not use software, or hire organizations and people to disseminate information, maliciously interfere with comments, or mislead public opinion.
With these measures, China aims to tighten rules on Internet platforms and keep up with the rapid development of the Internet.
As of June 2021, there were 1.011 billion Internet users in China along with 1.007 billion mobile users. With such a large number of users, however, a whole crop of new problems have arisen.
Zhou Junwu, senior partner at Jincheng Tongda & Neal, tells ALB that the old rules that governed mobile apps issued in 2016 do not fit in with today’s Internet industry. In addition, China is paying more attention to the protection of personal information and juveniles. It revised the rules in accordance with the new conditions as well as to remain consistent with relevant rules in recent years.
HIGHER REQUIREMENTS
As creators and operators in cyberspace, internet content apps become the ideal practitioners to supervise internet posts legally. So the new rules set up stricter requirements for internet content apps.
“First, compared with the old version, the new one redefines the types of services subject to regulation. It clarifies the concepts of ‘application information services’ and ‘application distribution services.’ It also expands the regulation from traditional mobile apps to mini-programs and browser plugins. As a result, operators of WeChat mini programs and Weibo mini programs should keep it in mind as they will also be included in the new rules,” says Zhou.
Zhou adds that the new rules have more specific requirements about the platform's obligations as well as include new responsibilities, compared with the old one. These include requesting users to register under real names on identity cards, supervision of public comments, as well as the protection of personal information and juveniles. It also prohibits unfair competition among Internet platforms, such as using machines or hiring people to get more traffic to platforms, controlling comments, or inducing users to download apps illegally.
“These new requirements are consistent with the regulations released in recent years and they are even more specific. This reflects China’s regulatory trends for the internet industry, especially for internet apps,” says Zhou.
According to the new rules, internet apps will be supervised by authorities and application distribution platforms need to report to the authorities before they are listed. In addition, they are under the supervision of the public. They need to set up a convenient system for the public to make complaints, as well as to address public complaints and reports timely, and collaborate with the CAC.
“Leading internet content apps such as Weibo, Bilibili, and Douban will receive more attention from the regulators. They have been called to improve themselves recently. This signals that platforms should not hold a fluke mentality. They need to strictly observe the rules to avoid punishment,” says Zhou.
“The new version (of the rules) is a systemic, specific and summarized law based on current regulations of internet apps, and it does not go beyond the existing laws. The revised one does not set new legal responsibilities. Instead, it clarifies in Article 25 that the CAC and relevant authorities will be responsible to deal with whoever violates the law,” Zhou adds.
“If platforms violate the regulations, authorities will punish them according to the law, including correction order, fines, and even civil prosecution,” explains Zhou.
LEARNING TO COMPLY
Apart from content audit and complaint system, Zhou has six compliance suggestions for internet content platforms.
First, platforms need to obtain relevant qualifications. The revised rules request that apps that provide news and information services should receive the qualification from the authorities. Also, app distribution services providers need to report to the regulators when they are about to provide a new program.
A second factor is real name authentication. Apps need to verify users’ identities with real names, as well as phone numbers, identity cards, or unified social credit codes.
“This is to prevent users from maliciously posting illegal content. It is also for the purpose of management and legal rights protection. Actually, the Cybersecurity Law required real name authentication since 2017. However, not all platforms fully implemented it, according to several cases we dealt with. Also, the standards for 'real names' are not consistent. Platforms granted approvals when some users use foreign phone numbers to register. But the government cannot locate users’ information with foreign numbers, which makes it difficult for legal rights protection,” says Zhou.
Third, platforms need to set up management rules that are publicly available. They should sign service agreements with registered users and incorporate the rules into the agreement to clarify the rights and obligations of both parties.
In addition, it is important to ensure data security.
“Platforms need to establish a well-developed data security management system and introduce technology to protect data and improve risk monitoring,” says Zhou.
Last, but not least, it is critical to protect personal information and juveniles.
Platforms need to obtain users’ consent when collecting and using personal information. Also, they should follow the minimum necessary standard and only collect necessary data.
“Apps need to create a system to prevent the juveniles from being addicted to platforms. They shall not produce, replicate, publish, and disseminate information that is harmful to the physical and mental health of minors. In addition, application distribution platforms shall keep in mind that they need to verify app providers' identities as well as the app itself. After the apps are publicly available, they also need to ensure that the provider’s information is public, as well as classify different apps by contents. In addition, they need to punish apps that provide illegal information,” says Zhou.
Finally, as internet content app operators’ obligations and responsibilities are not limited to these revised new rules, “they need to study new policies as regularly as possible,” suggests Zhou.
