Shortly after the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) issued a notice that news gathered from social media must be verified before being published, stressing that "No website is allowed to report public news without specifying the sources, or report news that quotes untrue origins," Beijing has been once again unfairly vilified by a number of Western media outlets as a control freak which is tightening the vice around the practice of journalism and restricting the flow of information online. 

Criticism against China's press freedom has been mounting for years in the Western world. However, no media in the world runs without regulation.

Back in 2013, the Associated Press stipulated in the guidelines for its employees that "Staffers should always refrain from spreading unconfirmed rumors online … doing so could lend credence to reports that may well be incorrect." The truth is US regulations on not only media, but even social networks are far stricter than that.

According to the latest reports, foreign visitors to the US will likely be asked to hand over their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts before stepping onto US soil. In other words, they will be watched by the US government.

Freedom of the press must be protected. Yet the media must abide by the law and not circulate fabricated stories or distorted facts. This should be the bottom line of every news outlet.

Nowadays, since social media has provided everybody with a platform to share information, fast-acting, timeliness and sensation have become the priority for quite a few news outlets, while the authenticity and accuracy of stories are dangerously overlooked.

Widely circulated fabricated stories that reported "The decay of moral standards in villages in northeastern China," and that a "Girl from Shanghai flees from a Lunar New Year dinner at her boyfriend's home in a village" created certain antagonisms between people from urban and rural areas.

A few social media accounts have even been utilized by lawless people to spread information about violence, terrorism, pornography and a variety of rumors.

China is still feeling its way in how to protect media freedom while cutting down on fake news at the same time. Everybody can have a platform now, yet not everyone has critical thinking. In an era of self-media, laws and regulations are needed more than ever before we get lost under a deluge of information.

Apart from that, it may be time for the CAC to ponder how they should make constructive decisions without fueling misunderstandings. Compared with relative silence like this time, a timely, simple explanation over the new rules can sometimes cut through the complexity. Perhaps it can start from that.