BEIJING - Chinese Internet users are now required to register their real names to upload videos to Chinese online video sites, the country's regulator of broadcasters said.

The new rule has been implemented to "prevent vulgar content, base art forms, exaggerated violence and sexual content in Internet video having a negative effect on society," China's State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) said on its website on Monday.

Online video sites are extremely popular in China, with 428 million users. Those allowing user uploads include sites operated by Youku Tudou Inc and Renren Inc.

Neither Youku Tudou nor Renren were available for immediate comment.

Last year the country?launched a campaign to control online discourse,?stipulating legal action against people whose perceived rumours on microblogs such as Sina Weibo are reposted more than 500 times or seen by more than 5,000 people.

China has attempted to implement similar real-name registration rules, including when buying SIM cards for mobile phones and signing up for Tencent's WeChat mobile messaging app and microblogs.

However these have proven difficult to implement and easy to avoid for China's tech-savvy Internet population.