Internet news sites that have been shut down include Sohu’s “People (in) News”, “Radial”, and “Strike Today”; iFeng’s “Serious Report”; Sina’s “Geek News”; and NetEase’s “Echo” and “Signpost”.

The new sources are all said to have “severely violated” internet regulations by publishing news stories obtained through original sources that are all responsible for “negative effects”, reported Bloomberg. The ban means that all internet news outlets offering “current affairs news” can only publish news reports provided by government-controlled print or online media, and not provided by their own personnel.

“Current affairs news” is a sweeping term in China that encompasses all news and commentary related to politics, economics, military, foreign affairs and social issues, according to the draft version of China’s online information law.

Earlier this month, the CAC banned Chinese news from using social media as a source for news stories as a “campaign against fake news and the spreading of rumors”. Also in July, the Ministry of Culture cracked down on live-stream video sites by making content providers legally responsible for the content they publish.

Last month, tight restrictions were placed on Chinese mobile phone games that require their pre-approval by State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRT), a decision for which it is being sued.

In April, Apple’s iTunes store in China had its movies and books section shut down by SAPPRT.

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Styled as a “campaign against fake news and the spreading of rumors,” the new regulations were handed down by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC). “It is forbidden to use hearsay to create news or use conjecture and imagination to distort the facts,” said the CAC.

The regulator listed a number of social media-sourced stories that have been reported in the news that have turned out to be false, including one involving a bus fire.

A number of websites have been punished by the CAC this year for having published unverified stories include Sina, iFeng, NetEase, and Tencent. The latest regulation comes after a long line of restrictions placed upon media and the internet in China.

In March of last year, WeChat users were forced to comply with new rules that forbade a number of illegal acts including lying. The month before, the CAC forced all WeChat users to register their accounts using their real names. Last May, some 35 dating websites were shut down for spreading pornography.

In the wake of last summer’s Tianjin explosion, websites were shut down and some 15,000 people were arrested in an online crackdown that aimed to “clean the internet” of “improper online speech”.

In July 2015, new regulations forbade Chinese journalists from working with Western news media in order to prevent state secrets from leaking out. This past February, Chinese President Xi Jinping called upon Chinese news media to adhere to party principles with a symbolic visit to the news offices of CCTV and Xinhua.

The CAC has been front and center in getting Chinese internet services to take on censorship responsibilities of their own. Last April, the CAC called on Sina Weibo to improve its censorship over its users, blaming it for “failing to censor illegal content”.

The new restrictions come a week after the former head China’s internet censorship bureau stepped down.

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