Draft law to further push breaking news onto the net

ESWN tells of a draft law that “will make it a punishable offense (50,000 yuan to 100,000 yuan in fines) for the media to publish independent reports on suddenly breaking incidents.”

Lyn has blogged about the special role of the internet, specifically the BBSs, for breaking news. If passed, will this new law further push breaking news onto the internet and “defang the mainstream media even” more?

ESWN points us to the idea that 50,000-100,000 yuan may not be a large amount of money to a large media organization with hundreds of millions of RMB revenue, and that Hong Kong magazines already  regularly operate boldly in the face of fines.

It is, however, still a draft law and I haven’t been able to find any indication on how likely it is that the law will pass. Stay tuned for more.