China is about to outlaw paid deletion of web posts, as its top court on Thursday issued a new guideline that would subject violators to penalties.

The guideline that the Supreme People's Court released renders moot any deal that aims to remove online information from publicly available space. It would apply to companies that want to delete or retract negative comments about them, China Daily reported.

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The court seeks to determine the people responsible for illegally removing online posts or paying a network service provider or information poster to publish either good or bad comments about an entity or person.

There are those willing to pay for said services, such as celebrities or public relations firms. These people or companies seek the services of an underground industry that charges a fee to illegally eliminate online posts, Supreme Court spokesman Sun Jungong explained.

The illegal industry also provides a source of income for entities driven by bad motives. The practice paves the way for a "disorderly Internet," Sun stated..

The new guideline covers both paid positive and negative information. Those who pay others to post damaging online information are subject to penalty, the guideline said.

Furthermore, the guideline prohibits anyone from publicly releasing a web user's home address, criminal record, health status and other private information. Should the disclosure result in an untoward situation for users, the poster of the information will deal with civil punishment.

Despite positive feedback from some criminal lawyers, there are those wary of the newly released guideline. Online case specialist Attorney Wang Guoha said the new guideline should not limit those who post proper information, or the general development of the Internet.

Courts must determine first if a website operator is liable for the published information because most of them have no knowledge of the paid posters, Wang added.

TagsInternet rules, web post deletion, illegal industry, supreme court