China Will Monitor, Censor SMS Messages

maggeth writes "Early reports on the AP (via Yahoo) indicate that China will begin monitoring and censoring SMS communications in real time. China's 'great firewall' is infamous, but the move to censoring SMS has been slow due to technological roadblocks. Algorithms are used to identify key words and combinations of words that might be associated with 'political rumors and "reactionary remarks,"' and the system automatically notifies local police. Something to think about on your Fourth of July weekend!" Reader ackthpt adds links to coverage at the BBC and The Register, asking "What next, a massive government database system to track every message and contacts between people?"

Comments

Re:Meet the NSA

[sadler121]

The NSA is prevented from spying in America or on American citizens.

And the scary thing is that he actually believes it. No, the NSA does "spy" on US Citizens all the time, and with people in charge, like the Bush Administration, just expect that if you act slightly out of line, you will be carted off as an "enemy combatent", denied access to a lawyer, and yes even tortured.

Re:If there ever was a people needing liberating..

[jez9999]

Now whilst I can't help but agree with and share your democractic ideals, too often Americans assume that everyone wants the same type of government they have. 'The Chinese need liberating'? You seem to say that about everyone these days. There's probably a significant block of people in the PRC that actually like feeling safe, that their government is protecting them, and that any undermining of the government is an undermining of the country itself. Sure, the leadership may not live up to the ideal of serving only the rest of the country as its peers, but many people are very blind to that. They don't *want* to be liberated, and I think the fact that China's still so undemocratic rather shows this.

Re:Don't be fools - look around

[stud9920]

We have the second amendment. The chinese don't. If the government gets out of hand, we always have the upper hand. Mao said it best: Government comes from the point of a gun.

Three factions :
* 99 % of Joe Sixpackses who don't care about politics
* 1 % Who are discontent with the government, and the government tells the 99% Joe Sixpackses they are terrists
* The government, with the most powerful army in the world

So, in case of a conflict, who do you think wins ? The second amendment was handy at the time the redcoats had to come in ships to attack you, not against a local, powerful army. Come to think of it, did the redcoats endorse the second amendment ? No, it was only voted after the war.

My friend, revolution as we know it is no longer possible. When a corrupt government is replaced (think Soviets or South Africa, counter example are welcome), it is because it has become obsolete, not because some hillbilly used his musket.