With recent Chinese state media reports having revealed that the new Communist Party leadership intends rolling out `real-name registration' regulations for all Chinese Internet users, there are clearly no signs of any relaxation in the online restrictions in the country.

According to a Xinhua report, the Communist Party's draft decision, which will prevent Chinese Internet users from using pseudonyms when they sign up with Internet service providers (ISPs), is already being debated by China's leading policymakers on the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC).

Given the fact that the new regulations will force the nearly 530 Internet users in China to use `real names' for registering with their ISPs, Li Fei - deputy director of the NPC Standing Committee's Commission for Legislative Affairs - said: "Such identity management could be conducted backstage, allowing users to use different names when publicising information."

Despite the fact that `real-name registration' proposal is being essentially pushed by the authorities with the key objective of weeding out online swindlers and spammers, it is believed that they will become a new deterrent for whistleblowers as well as the critics of the Party.

Furthermore, the proposal also raises potential concerns related to the privacy of the Chinese Internet users, especially if there is any lapse on the part of the relevant ISPs and network operators to suitably protect the registration details of the users.