Online law needed

The orderly operation of society depends on morals and law. So does cyberspace. The degradation of the online environment in China is largely caused by the absence of a special law on Internet administration, says an article in Guangming Daily. Excerpts:

Pornography, hacker attacks, the exposure of private photos and spam are common for Internet users today, demonstrating how serious the challenge is for the healthy development of China's online environment. Although there are plenty of industrial regulations and rules on information security for different sectors, such as finance and medical records, these regulations are not well-enforced online by the relevant authorities, and there is no collaboration between the different authorities. The loopholes in the regulations are thus enlarged and used by some people for their own benefit.

The Internet is no longer a virtual space with a close connection to the real world.

As the Internet has become an indispensable part of people's lives and the platform for the government and functioning departments to provide public services, individual users and the country have paid the price for the lack of efficient supervision and administration. The security of personal and national information is just one of the challenges for Internet rule-makers. Those responsible should not be technicians but law-makers. The more developed the Internet becomes, the more urgently the industry needs a comprehensive law covering the whole of its operations, including information security, administration, network users' behavior and technology.

This should not limit the development of technology, but instead how people use technology. And only when everyone who uses the Internet fulfils his or her obligation as a responsible netizen can people better enjoy the benefits of information technology. The law is just to stipulate the obligations and rules for all.