The People's Liberation Army (PLA) has banned Chinese armymen from using blogs on the Internet to protect the servicemen from "online traps" and ensure data confidentiality.

PLA Internal Administration Regulations which came into force on June 15, prohibited soldiers from creating website, homepage, or blog on the Internet.

The revised regulations also banned soldiers from issuing "longly hearts" and job hunting advertisements on mass media.

"It means soldiers cannot open blogs on the Internet no matter he or she does it in the capacity of a soldier or not," Wan Long, the political commissar of a regiment in the Guangzhou Military Area Command, Beijing News quoted the PLA Daily as saying.

"The Internet is complicated and we should guard against online traps," he said.

"If information of military officers and their unit aroused attention of people with ulterior motives, it will pose threat to confidentiality of the armed forces," commander of the Xigaze military sub-command in Tibet Autonomous Region, Yang Jigui, told Xinhua today.