BEIJING (AFP) - Yahoo China and MSN China confirmed Friday they had signed a code of conduct for their blogging operations that committed them to protecting the interests of the Chinese state.
The firms and other blog providers in China this week signed the "self-discipline" pact, under which they pledged to "safeguard state and public interests," according to a statement from the China Internet Society.
The pact "encourages" Internet firms to register the real names, addresses and other personal details of the bloggers, and then keep this information.
The firms also committed to delete any "illegal or bad messages," according to a copy of the pact posted on the society's website.
Along with sex and violence, China's communist rulers have also deemed that opinions critical of it or the spreading of democratic ideology are not allowed.
Yahoo China and MSN China told AFP they had signed the pact, but did not give any further comment.
"I can confirm that we signed the pact this week," said spokesman Dou Xiaohan of Yahoo China.
MSN China spokesman Feng Jinhu said: "We've signed the pact but there is no press release on that."
Some Internet companies have caused uproar abroad for bowing to the Chinese government's demands by agreeing to censor websites and content banned by the nation's propaganda chiefs.
They have repeatedly insisted that they have no choice but to follow local rules and regulations in China.
Yahoo has been criticised for passing on information to Chinese authorities about one its users, who got a 10-year jail sentence for divulging state secrets.
The user had posted a Chinese government order, forbidding media organisations from marking the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square uprising, on the Internet.
International press freedom group Reporters Without Borders condemned the new blogging pact.
"The Chinese government has yet again forced Internet sector companies to cooperate on sensitive issues. In this case blogger registration and blog content," it said in a statement.