China’s Internet Police Launch ‘Speech Inspections’, Chill Critical Voices · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

Image from Flickr user: Isriya Paireepairit (CC: AT-NC)
Chinese Internet Police Units from 50 municipal governments began conducting “speech inspections” on social media platforms on June 1.
According to a statement from the Ministry of Public Security, the Internet Police will be patrolling major social media platforms including Weibo and WeChat round the clock to prevent illegal information from spreading under a shared username and account “Internet Police Inspection and Law Enforcement” (网警巡查执法). The Internet police teams are meant to detect “illegal and harmful information,” prevent improper words and deeds, publish case reports, and guard against cyber criminals. They will “educate and warn” those who misbehave and crack down on those who violate the law.
The first generation of Internet police patrol units has been deployed mainly in big cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, as well as cities where ethnic minorities reside. Second and third-tier cities will start patrolling online at a later stage.
Since 2008, when Weibo became popular in China, a large number of police units have created their own social media accounts to receive complaints and crime reports from ordinary citizens. But until now, they were not responsible for monitoring online speech. Social media censorship is mainly executed by platform administrators who receive instructions from various government and party authorities to filter politically sensitive words or delete  the accounts of problematic users. Most social media platforms have also set up community reporting systems to prevent rumors and libel from spreading online.
For years, police have been interrogating and arresting netizens for “spreading rumors” or “picking quarrels and provoking troubles”. The most recent cases are human rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang's speech incrimination. But the launch of the “Internet Police Inspection and Law Enforcement” program thus implies a more coordinated effort in the incrimination of online speech.
The ministry statement has also highlighted that fact that in 2015, Internet Police Units have already deleted approximately 758,000 pieces of “criminal information” and handled 70,000 “cybercrime” cases. “The stepping into light” of Internet police may further the chilling effects of their actions on critical voices.
Independent writer Ye Du told Radio Free Asia:
这个体制把互联网视为意识形态成败的关键部分。微博、微信现在是新媒体社交时代网民主要运用的工具。在微博上面已经清理得差不多了，
Image from Flickr user: Isriya Paireepairit (CC: AT-NC)
而在微信上面现在也加紧清理，这全部是网络警察的功劳。但是我们看到，现在整个在互联网来说，还是相当活跃的。在庆安事件里面我们看到网民纷纷表态，对这个体制形成相当大的压力，这让他们意识到单靠以前一些打击网络大V，清理公信号，或者实名制，不一定能应付得了目前来自民众的压力。[…] 所以这次我们看到网络警察大规模上线，这是对网民赤裸裸的恐吓，希望从心理上面让网民产生恐惧，从而在互联网各种关键问题上面自我审查，这才是这种高调最真实的目的。
The state sees Internet as the battlefield of ideological control. Weibo and WeChat are major tools for advocating democracy in the social media era. Weibo has been cleaned up and more efforts have been put on WeChat thanks to the Internet police. However, the Internet is still active. In the recent Qing'an police shooting incident, many netizens spoke up and generated huge pressure for the authorities. They became aware that the crackdown on opinion leaders, strict control on WeChat public platform or real name system could not stop people from expressing their opinions. […] That's why the Internet police now have to make themselves visible. This is a threat to netizens intending to generate fear so that netizens will self-censor their speech. This is the real intention behind the move.
Ordinary netizens are not happy about the speech inspection, but many reacted with a sense of humor. In a Weibo thread where “Chengdu Internet police inspection and law enforcement” introduced themselves and their work, Chinese netizens commented with dark humor, mocking at the authorities overt control over people's speech while neglecting food security and real criminal acts that affect people's daily life:
地沟油煎炒、苏丹红禽蛋、镉大米、污染水、塑化剂水酒、膨大剂果蔬、石蜡油火锅、滑石粉豆干、硫磺熏银耳、PM2.5空气、地痞、流氓、小偷、强盗原来都他妈的是安全的。只有这网络不安全。
Gutter oil deep fried food, Sudan I tainted eggs, Cadmium tainted rice, polluted water, plasticizer drinks, explosive fruits, Paraffin oil hotpot, Tofu made with talcum powder, white fungus processed with sulphur, PM2.5 dust in air, thugs and goons, thieves and robbers, they are all fxxking safe. Only the Internet is unsafe.
网络不是法外之地，这个说法根本就不是事实，网络上发表言论惹恼政府的人抓得还不够多？老爷们喜欢睁眼说瞎话。
The Internet is not outside the rule of law – this saying is inaccurate. So many people have already been arrested for their critical speech online. Is this not enough? You guys like to lie without blinking your eyes.
我被世纪佳缘酒托骗钱，你来管？ 我一夜情（合法的吧？）没搞成，手机还掉了，你来管？ 我淘宝花正品的钱买到山寨货，你来管？ 管不了就别吹牛逼，行不？
I was cheated by an online matching platform, you want to handle this? I failed in my one night stand (this is legal right?), lost my mobile, can you handle this? I got counterfeiting goods from Taobao, can you handle that? If you can't take care of these problems, don't boasting around.