In a ceremony in Beijing earlier this week, Xu Lin, Director of the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), presided over the inauguration of the China Federation of Internet Societies (CFIS), an internet industry grouping whose stated purpose is to “promote the development of Party organizations in the industry.” Establishment of the federation indicates the CCP will be more actively involved in private internet firms to ensure closer Party governance and scrutiny of all forms of media. Prominent industry leaders, including Tencent chairman Pony Ma, Alibaba’s founder Jack Ma and Baidu chairman Robin Li, have been appointed Vice Presidents of the new Federation. Global Times quoted Zhao Zhanling of the Beijing-based Internet Society of China as saying “Just relying on government authorities,” said Zhao, “is far from enough in administering cyberspace, and it’s more important that CFIS members voluntarily clean the cyberspace environment.”
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