The State Council Information Office and the Ministry of Information Industry announced the rules last week, stating that the «state bans dissemination of content which goes against state security and the public interest.»
The announcement did not give any date as to when the rules would come into effect.
In addition to religious news, the new rules affect 10 other «forbidden zones,» including news that would endanger state security, state secrets which have not been declassified, or reports that sparked ethnic violence.
Mainland authorities already strictly control the media and use technology to filter and monitor Internet content considered politically sensitive or pornographic.
The announcement comes before a key Communist Party plenum next month.
