China's government plans to embed cyber-security police units at major internet companies and websites to help prevent crimes such as fraud and "spreading of rumours", according to the state-run Xinhua News Agency.
It is an unusually hands-on approach by Beijing, which typically sets censorship standards and puts the onus on companies to comply. China's internet regulator has previously favoured tactics such as threatening to shut down services that didn't meet censorship requirements.
China's Ministry of Public Security didn't say which companies would have the new police units. China's internet sector is dominated by three companies, e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, gaming and messaging titan Tencent and search engine Baidu, all of which are publicly listed.
An Alibaba spokesman said the company worked with Chinese authorities to combat illegal activities online.
"It is our priority to maintain the reliability and security of our platforms to protect our customers," he said.
Tencent, Baidu and the ministry didn't respond to requests for comment yesterday.
"We are concerned by these reports," said a spokesman for the White House National Security Council. "The United States' commitment to internet freedom reflects our deep-seated belief that individuals have the same universal human rights online and offline."
It wasn't immediately clear whether the cyber police units would apply to international, as well as domestic, tech companies operating in China.
The physical police units at web firms are part of Beijing's broader efforts to exert greater control over China's internet.
China tightened regulation of social networks earlier this year, banning accounts that could harm national security or promote illegal services such as drug peddling.
The country has long required web companies to delete accounts that it believes are spreading rumours, criticising the Chinese Communist Party or disseminating pornography or other illegal content.
Robert Atkinson, president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a Washington think tank, said he saw two motivations behind the Chinese government's move.
"The first is to limit free speech and exert more state control on information flows. But the second is to push the internet industry in China even more firmly into being fully indigenous," he said.
Facebook and Google don't operate in China. Professional social network LinkedIn launched a Chinese-language site last year, hoping to tap the country's growing group of business professionals. As part of that deal, LinkedIn agreed it would censor sensitive content at the government's request. One user later said a video he posted expressing support for people killed during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protest was blocked in China.
LinkedIn had no immediate comment.
Greater China, which also includes sales from Taiwan and Hong Kong, is Apple's second-biggest market. An Apple spokeswoman had no immediate comment on the report.
The cyber police measure comes amid heightened tensions between the US and China over cyber-security. US officials believe a recent cyber break-in at the US Office of Personnel Management — which resulted in the theft of millions of personnel records and the likely loss of sensitive security-clearance information —came from China.
China says it is a victim, not a perpetrator, of hacking.
China's politicians are also reviewing a broad-sweeping draft cyber security law that will expand the government's powers in this area.
Beijing ratcheted up its cyber-security measures after former US security contractor Edward Snowden said US intelligence agencies were using tech companies to spy on foreign governments.