China's legislature approves controversial anti-terrorism law

China’s legislature on Sunday approved a new anti-terrorism law, a draft version of which critics had argued was too broad, granted new censorship powers and enabled government access to key commercial data, The New York Times reported. Beijing had argued that the measures were needed to prevent terrorist attacks, but the law as approved dropped requirements that Internet services firms and other tech suppliers give Beijing encryption codes and other sensitive data prior to use. However, the law does require companies to provide technical information and help with decryption when police or state security demands it for investigation or prevention of terrorist cases.