Regulations on the Online Conduct of Members of the Communist Party of China

Chapter 1 General Provisions

Article 1 In order to regulate the online behavior of Party members and bring into play their role in cyberspace, these regulations are formulated in accordance with the Regulations on the Education and Management of Communist Party Members and other relevant Party regulations.

Article 2 The term "online behavior" as used in these Regulations refers to the creation, reproduction, storage, publication, and dissemination of text, pictures, audio, video, and other information content and related activities through the Internet.

Article 3 When engaging in online behavior, Party members should deeply understand the decisive significance of the "two establishes," enhance the "four consciousnesses," strengthen the "four confidences," and achieve the "two safeguards." They should adhere to the correct political direction, public opinion orientation, and value orientation, strictly abide by political discipline and political rules, play an exemplary role, follow the mass line online, create a healthy and positive online environment, promote the formation of a good online ecosystem, maintain political security and ideological security, and consciously maintain consistency with the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core in thought, politics, and action.

Article 4 Party organizations at all levels bear the primary responsibility for managing the online behavior of Party members, fully implementing the responsibility system for online ideological and political work and network security. Organizational, publicity, and cyberspace administration departments at all levels are responsible for the management of the online behavior of Party members within their respective duties.

Chapter 2 Dissemination of Positive Online Energy

Article 5 Party members should actively use the Internet to widely publicize Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, the Party's guidelines, policies, and major decisions and deployments, the Chinese socialist system, the major achievements, historical experience, and vivid practices of the Party leading the people in their united struggle, excellent traditional Chinese culture, revolutionary culture, and advanced socialist culture, promote socialist core values and socialist ethics and conduct, and vigorously promote the main theme and spread positive energy.

Article 6 Party members should practice the mass line online, maintain close contact with the masses, promptly reflect the opinions and demands of the masses, respond to social concerns, clarify doubts and explain matters rationally, and guide the masses to form a consensus.

Article 7 Party members should dare to fight and be good at fighting, daring to speak out against various wrong ideological trends and erroneous viewpoints online, and resolutely refuting fallacies.

Article 8 Party members are encouraged to use the internet to tell the stories of socialism with Chinese characteristics, the story of the Communist Party of China, the story of the Chinese people's struggle to achieve their dreams, the story of excellent traditional Chinese culture, and the story of China's peaceful development, showcasing a real, multi-dimensional, and comprehensive China to the world.

Chapter 3 Management of Online Behavior

Article 9 Party members' online behavior should strictly abide by Party regulations and discipline, model the observance of laws and regulations, and consciously uphold principles and bottom lines.

Article 10 Party members must not, through the internet, produce, copy, store, publish, or disseminate information containing opposition to the Party's fundamental theories, basic line, and basic program, violating the four cardinal principles, violating or distorting the Party's reform and opening-up decisions, rashly discussing the Party Central Committee's major policies, undermining the Party's centralized unity, defaming the Party and the country's image, slandering Party and state leaders, heroes, and model figures, or distorting the history of the Party, the People's Republic of China, or the People's Liberation Army. They must not organize or participate in online forums, groups, live broadcasts, or other activities containing such content.

Article 11 Party members must not organize, participate in, or mobilize illegal collusion, joint signatures, gatherings, or other illegal online organizations or activities.

Article 12 Party members must not create, spread, or disseminate political rumors through the Internet, and must not anonymously falsely accuse, deliberately frame, or create other rumors.

Article 13 Party members must not participate in online religious or superstitious activities, nor participate in, condone, or support the use of the Internet to promote terrorism, separatism, extremism, cults, or incite ethnic hatred and discrimination, undermining ethnic unity.

Article 14 Party members must not arbitrarily establish or use illegal channels to browse, access, or use foreign websites or applications.

Article 15 Party members must strictly abide by the Party's confidentiality discipline and must not leak or spread state secrets or work secrets through the internet.

Article 16 Party members must not seek improper benefits by publishing or deleting online information or through other means of interfering with information presentation.

Article 17 Party members should cultivate good online habits and consciously resist such negative online culture as worshipping foreign countries, showing off wealth, extravagance and waste, and negative online phenomena such as hyping up scandals, creating conflicts, manipulating ratings, live-streaming tips, and excessive online gaming.

Article 18 Party and government cadres must not use their positions to solicit or illegally accept online virtual assets from others with property value, such as online accounts, online game equipment, and virtual currency.

Article 19 Party and government cadres must not conduct profit-making activities such as online lending or live-streaming sales in violation of relevant regulations in their official capacity.

Article 20 Party and government cadres must abide by relevant regulations when registering, using, and managing public online accounts, fulfilling their social responsibilities and not harming national security, the public interest, or the legitimate rights and interests of others.

Article 21 If Party members discover online information or activities that violate regulations, discipline, or laws, they should promptly report them to relevant departments and online platforms, actively provide clues, and assist the relevant parties in handling them.

Chapter 4 Safeguards and Supervision

Article 22 Party organizations at all levels should conduct normalized education for Party members on using the Internet in accordance with regulations and laws, improve Party members' online literacy and skills, and encourage and support Party members in learning about, accessing, and using the Internet.

Article 23 Party organizations at all levels should encourage Party members to fully play an exemplary role online. Those who make outstanding contributions to the dissemination of positive online energy and the guidance of public opinion should be commended and rewarded according to relevant regulations, and this should be considered in the assessment of advanced individuals and collectives, promotion, and professional title evaluation.

Article 24 Establish and improve a system for clarifying reputations and providing protection, and show care and concern for Party members who dare to speak out online for the interests of the Party and the people. For Party members who dare to struggle, take responsibility, and are subjected to false accusations, cyberbullying, or threats and intimidation in the dissemination of positive online energy and guidance of public opinion, Party organizations at all levels should coordinate with relevant departments to legally protect their legitimate rights and interests, and legally punish relevant illegal and criminal acts.

Article 25 Party organizations at all levels should strengthen guidance on Party members' online behavior, differentiating between different types of Party members, combining public accounts and types of online behavior to formulate scientific and reasonable regulations, and improve supervision and management systems.

Article 26 Party organizations at all levels should include the regulation of Party members' online behavior and the leveraging of their role in cyberspace as an important aspect of Party building, incorporating it into the Party building responsibility system, and promoting its implementation in close conjunction with central tasks.

Article 27 Party organizations at all levels should include Party members' online behavior in the self-criticism and examination of democratic life meetings, organizational life meetings, and democratic appraisal of Party members, promptly summarizing experiences, publicizing advanced examples, examining gaps and deficiencies, and guiding and regulating Party members to properly conduct online behavior.

Article 28 Party members who violate these regulations will be held accountable according to the nature and severity of their actions; if suspected of illegal or criminal acts, they will be dealt with according to relevant legal provisions.

Chapter 5 Supplementary Provisions

Article 29 Military Party members' online behavior shall be governed by relevant military regulations.

Article 30 These regulations shall be interpreted by the Organization Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the Propaganda Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, and the Office of the Central Leading Group for Cyberspace Security and Informatization.

Article 31 These regulations shall come into effect upon their issuance.