Chinese users of instant messaging apps will have to register their real names, and seek approval before publishing political news, under new regulations.
Public users of popular services such as WeChat will also have to sign agreements promising to uphold “the socialist system”, state media say.
It comes as South Korean officials said access to foreign messaging apps such as KakaoTalk and Line had been blocked.
China has imposed similar restrictions on microblogs over the past two years.
China’s internet is tightly restricted, with social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter blocked.
However, hundreds of millions of people use Chinese social media providers.
‘Issuing warnings’
The State Internet Information Office (SIIO) announced the rules, which come into immediate effect, on Thursday, state-run news agency Xinhua reported.
The regulations apply to public accounts, which are used to broadcast to subscribers and are popular sources of news.
“Instant messaging services should require users to verify their real-name identities before registering an account,” the SIIO said in its statement (in Chinese).
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