The Chinese internet watchdog has announced changes to the country's online regulations for the first time in over a decade. New laws are set to come into effect on the 1st of June, and require all online news outlets to obtain government licences. The change applies to news broadcasters on any website, forum, blog or messaging service in the country. This has been seen as another step in the government's crackdown on uncensored news in China, but is the first time that public instant messaging accounts have been directly targeted. Last year, censors in China closed down multiple news channels, as well as banning certain sites' writers from producing original content.
