Crackdown intensifies on 'formalism at fingertips'

Guideline to eliminate 'work burdens' created by government-related apps

A guideline on preventing "formalism at fingertips" was recently issued by the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission to implement the central leadership's call to combat formalism and bureaucracy.

Applications and online accounts involving government affairs need tighter control as they had grown without proper management in recent years, it said.

The 16-article guideline was made public by the commission's office on Monday via its website. It pledges to solve major formalism-related problems relating to apps, accounts and work groups involving government affairs within two years.

In recent years, China has seen a growth of government-related apps and online programs along with the quick development of digital technologies. The original aim of these online services was to improve the efficiency of handling government affairs, but they soon turned out to be a "work burden".

According to China Comment, a magazine operated by Xinhua News Agency, some officials have complained that they were required to download more than 10 government apps to sign in every day. They also had to upload work-related pictures and forward the content online to earn points. Higher scores would help them get a higher ranking, which was linked to their work performance assessments.

This led to officials being busy with the apps, instead of conducting in-depth surveys to solve people's problems.

Some local governments were also found to have established mini programs and WeChat groups to send notifications and assign work. However, there was no further interaction, resulting in a large number of idle online services, the magazine said, as it called for the country to change the situation as soon as possible.

The guideline identifies the actions as "formalism at fingertips", and regards them as a mutated form of traditional formalism in the digital age.

To remove the "work burden", the guideline clarifies that except for special industries — such as public security and emergency services — government apps and services should not, in principle, force officials to sign in or set up online ranking functions.

It also states that downloading government apps is not a must, adding that apps with low usage should be promptly shut down or canceled.

caoyin@chinadaily.com.cn