BEIJING, Sept. 11 (UPI) -- China plans to tighten its media regulations by having its official news agency control the flow of foreign news reports, photographs and graphics.
In its own report, the official New China News Agency said it would censor content that endangers "national security," reports The New York Times.
If the proposal is implemented as written, the Times said it would have a major impact on foreign news agencies that currently sell their products to a wide range of Chinese clients.
Many new Chinese media outlets including Web sites until now have been able to go around censorship procedures but Communist Party leaders want to put a stop to it. These leaders want to make sure the masses no longer have access to information that they think could provoke popular discontent or weaken their power, says the report.
The latest move comes in the wake of a crackdown by Chinese President Hu Jintao's government on various new media outlets and arrests of journalists in recent months.
