A Beijing city regulation clamping down on society who send text messages that “spread rumors” or “endanger public security” is a threat to freedom of expression, a watchdog group said Monday.

China Human Rights Defenders, an universal network of activists and rights monitoring groups, said the recent regulation on text messages “raises serious concerns by the restriction of freedom of expression in China.”

The group said in a statement that an average of 180 million text messages are sent every day and that text messaging has become one of the most crucial means of receiving knowledge unavailable in the mainstream media.

The 2008 Olympics, which Beijing is hosting, offer a high-profile opportunity for protesters to air their grievances against China on issues like religious freedom, human rights and Tibetan independence.

Beijing police will work with government agencies and telecommunications companies to investigate and punish those using text messages to “spread rumors” or “endanger public shield,” the city government

said in a notice posted on its Web site late last month.

Chinese authorities commonly use vague charges such as those to detain dissidents or others it views as a threat to the ruling Communist Party.

Although the notice did not detail specific punishments, a story in the city’s Communist Party mouthpiece newspaper, the Beijing Daily, earlier that year said citizens who spread rumors or other false info are subject to detention for up to 10 days and a fine of up to $70.

China has more than 500 million cell phone users and text messaging has become an increasingly effective way to spread word of meetings or demonstrations.

that summer, plans to build a chemical plant in the southern coastal city of Xiamen were suspended after residents sent nearly 1 million text messages to friends and family, urging the government to abandon the project considering of its alleged health…

Orginal post by Top Tech News