China began to reduce online anonymity with rules from March 1, 2015. That required platforms to remove screen names of anonymous state bodies, public figures, or foreign leaders. Since then these measures developed into a nationwide verification system side y side with broader censorship and enforcement objectives.
In next years, the “real identity” requirement was fixed in law through the Cybersecurity Law, which mandates that network operators verify users identities for services such as network access, domain registration, information publishing, and any messaging. This allows users to appear under nicknames publicly while platforms retain verified identity information. Regulators started from enforcement and continue to stricter rulemaking, including a CAC draft in October 2021 that continued real-identity registration and banned accounts that imitate Party or government bodies or any news organizations.
In the end of 2023, on most Chinese platforms high-reach influencers had to display their real names, which increased public visibility beyond backstage verification.
Not so far ago, China introduced a new centralized “cyberspace ID” system. It was released in May 2025 and started working on July 15, 2025, established a national online identity authentication service administered by state agencies. This service issues internet ID numbers and certificates which were presented as voluntary Official statement sounds like “minimum necessary” data use and reporting tens of millions of app downloads.
However, as drafts were debated in 2024 and the system launched in 2025, outside observers cautioned that a unified, government-run identity system could increase state oversight across platforms and may eventually become a de facto requirement, further reducing online anonymity in China.