China stepping back from proposed blog rules

China will back down from a plan to require bloggers to use their real names when they register blogs, following an outcry over the proposal from the Internet industry, official media reported Tuesday.

Instead, the government will promote a "self-discipline code" that will encourage, but not mandate, bloggers to register under their own names, the report said, citing draft guidelines published by the Internet Society of China.

"The ISC, with the backing of the Ministry of Information Industry, is trying to rally industry players to sign up to the self-discipline code for the promotion of a less rigorous real-name system," state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

China, the world's second-largest Web market with some 140 million Internet users, already censors Internet content.

Some government departments had advocated the use of real names as a way to stop slander, pornography and the spread of what the ruling Communist Party sees as "harmful information."

China already routinely blocks Web sites for political content that runs counter to the government's views and restricts participation in online discussion groups.