Cyberspace Administration of China
The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC; 国家互联网信息办公室) is the national internet regulator and censor of the People's Republic of China.
Abbreviation
CAC
5 May 2011
11 Chegongzhuang Street, Xicheng, Beijing
国家互联网信息办公室
國家互聯網信息辦公室
State Internet Information Office
Guójiā Hùliánwǎng Xìnxī Bàngōngshì
Guójiā Hùliánwǎng Xìnxī Bàngōngshì
The agency was initially established in 2011 by the State Council as the State Internet Information Office (SIIO), a subgroup of the State Council Information Office (SCIO). In 2014, the SIIO was renamed in English as the Cyberspace Administration of China, and transformed into the executive arm of the newly established Central Leading Group for Cybersecurity and Informatization of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which was promoted to the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission in 2018.
The CAC's current director is Zhuang Rongwen, who concurrently serves as a Deputy Head of the CCP's Publicity Department of the Central Committee.
History[edit]
On 5 May 2011, the State Council approved the establishment of the State Internet Information Office (SIIO). The SIIO was initially a subgroup of the State Council Information Office (SCIO), which was an external name of the External Propaganda Office (EOP) of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The first SIIO director was Wang Chen, who was also the director of the SCIO.[1] Though initially a nameplate of the SCIO, SIIO soon gained full-time staff.[2]
Reforms in February 2014 led to the creation of the Central Leading Group for Cybersecurity and Informatization of the CCP. The SIIO was transformed to become the external name of the Central Leading Group's general office.[2] It additionally changed its name in English to the Cyberspace Administration of China, while its Chinese name stayed the same.[1]
Lu Wei, who was the head of CAC until 2016, was previously the head of the Beijing CCP Central Committee's Publicity Department, and oversaw the Internet Management Office, a "massive human effort" that involved over 60,000 Internet propaganda workers and two million others employed off-payroll. It was this experience that assisted CCP general secretary Xi Jinping in selecting Lu as the head of the CAC.[3]
Further reforms in February 2018 upgraded the Central Leading Group to the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission (CACC), with the CAC staying as the executive arm of the commission.[1]
Structure[edit]
The Cyberspace Administration of China and the Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission of the CCP, its executive arm, are one institution with two names.[4][5][6] The CAC is involved in the formulation and implementation of policy on a variety of issues related to the internet in China. It is under direct jurisdiction of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission, a party institution subordinate to the CCP Central Committee.[7] The Director of both the state and party institutions is Zhuang Rongwen,[8] who serves concurrently as a Deputy Head of the CCP's Central Committee Publicity Department.[9]
The CAC includes the following departments: an Internet Security Emergency Command Center, an Agency Service Center, and an Illegal and Unhealthy Information Reporting Center.[10] Unlike most other Chinese administrative agencies, the CAC does not regularly publish information about its organizational structure, structure, budget, duties as well as its personnel arrangements, except for brief biographies of its director and deputy directors.[1]
Many of the CAC's regulatory functions are delegated to the China Electronic Technology Standardization Institute.[11]: 143 The institute tests cybersecurity compliance and data protection.[11]: 143
The CAC is the majority owner of the China Internet Investment Fund, which has golden share ownership stakes in technology firms such as ByteDance, Weibo Corporation, SenseTime, and Kuaishou.[12][13] The CAC additionally organizes the World Internet Conference.[14]
Role[edit]
The CAC is the national internet regulation agency in China.[15][16] Its functions include rulemaking, administrative licensing and punishment activities.[1]
The CAC implements information-dissemination guidelines and policies, regulates internet information content and management, supervises network news businesses, and investigates illegal or non-regulatory compliant websites.[11]: 40 The CAC maintains censorship functions, including issuing directives to media companies in China. After a campaign to arrest almost 200 lawyers and activists in China, the CAC published a directive saying that "All websites must, without exception, use as the standard official and authoritative media reports with regards to the detention of trouble-making lawyers by the relevant departments."[17] The CAC has also been given the responsibility for reviewing the security of devices made by foreign countries.[18][19]
The initial powers and legal basis of the CAC came from a 2014 authorization by the State Council.[1] According to the Cybersecurity Law passed in 2016, "state cybersecurity and information departments", generally regarded to refer to the CAC, have the authority to plan and coordinate cybersecurity and related regulation with other regulatory agencies with overlapping or complementary jurisdiction.[20] The Data Security Law passed in 2021 tasked CAC with online data security and export of important data, while the Personal Information Protection Law passed in 2021 granted CAC with powers for planning, coordinating and supervising personal information protection work, retaliating its authority over control of personal information overseas.[1]
Since its founding in 2011, CAC had the authority to issue punitive orders, including imposing fines, license revocations, and business closures. Since 2017, the CAC has also been publishing legally-binding departmental rules (部门规章), issued by State Council administrative agencies.[1]
(in Chinese)
