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Study Shows China Tightens Internet Filtering
Torrey Clark writes "China is the world's leading censor of the Internet, filtering web sites, blogs, e-mail, and online forums for sensitive political content, according to a study released Thursday. The OpenNet Initiative said that China employs thousands officials and private citizens to build a 'pervasive, sophisticated, and effective' system of Internet censorship. 'ONI sought to determine the degree to which China filters sites on topics that the Chinese government finds sensitive, and found that the state does so extensively,' said the study. 'Chinese citizens seeking access to Web sites containing content related to Taiwanese and Tibetan independence, Falun Gong, the Dalai Lama, the Tiananmen Square incident, opposition political parties, or a variety of anti-Communist movements will frequently find themselves blocked,' the report said."
I find it interesting how the Chinese government is all up in arms about Japan rewriting their history books, yet censors controversial Chinese history (e.g. Tiananmen Square) as well as current events (e.g. Taiwan and Tibet).
Granted the Japanese is almost rewriting history as oppposed to censoring it completely, but I believe the fundamental mentality is the same.
It's good to see China gets most favored nation trading status. After all, a country that represses its own citizen to the point of shooting them en masse and trying to cover it up, censoring internet access, and killing off political opponents deserves our respect and trade.
Especially when that trade costs many American workers their jobs, and results in a massive trade deficit that's only good for China, American executives, and their puppet politicians.
Must be the whole "culture of life" thing at work.
Why stop there? Why not just ban all forms of media, as it has to censor them too? But then the citizens could start talking and who knows what they'll talk about. Let's ban people from China too.
China has to balance its modernizing cities and urban population with its authoritarian communism. It's a fine line. I'm not saying it's right, I'm just saying I understand.
Hmm...
Mod down or comment?
Mod down or comment?
Commenting!
Because... it would affect their economic growth?
The Internet is full. Go Away!!!
While I don't applaud the Bush administration's actions on censorship, I think it's still important to keep in mind that we have it much better than some places (China being just one example).
One should not become so cynical as to completely forget the good things about our form of government and the freedoms it provides. There are legitimate concerns regarding control of some information (trade secrets, confidential personal data, illegal material, national security concerns, etc.). The oft promulgated worldview that all information should be free (as in speech) is simply not a rational one.
What's with the department that submitted this being called the "not-that-any-chinese-people-will-see-this" dept? I'm chinese in insensitive clod! I just happen to live in Canada.
To make a pun demonstrates the highest understanding of a language
Despite conventional wisdom, though, ONI found that most major American media sites, such as CNN, MSNBC, and ABC, are generally available in China (though the BBC remains blocked).
Another proof (if needed) of the total uselessness of american corporate media.
China's dictatorial government doesn't even see them as a threat... Sleep tight america.
How ervasive and effective can a system be when you are paying people to review it. There are 3 problems that spring to mind.
1) Doesn't it defeat the purpose of hiding something when you pay thousands of people to read it?
2) How effective can any system that relies on human judgement be?
3) What's to stop a small dedicated group of people from letting a few "un-authorized" pages slip through the cracks.
"Freedom of speech has always been the abstract red-headed stepchild of the Constitution"
-Suck
In this case, I think the good outweighs the bad. I can deal with spam if it means that people in China, N. Korea, etc. can get unbiased information.
They really need a FOX News affiliate over there to convince them that up is really down...
-- Fratz, human
I don't think anyone wants ALL information floating around free.
I think you'd be surprised.
So the question arises, should countries, with their own values, be able to determine what content their people are exposed to?
No.
For example, can China declare communism is best, and ban all websites promoting capitalism?
Yes.
Can Iran declare western film evil, and ban all websites with western film content?
Yes.
If other reasons we do lack, we swear no one will die when we attack
The Chinese government is in an interesting state of duality now. They know the Internet is useful, just like they know capitalism is useful. However they still want to retain the control and power they've always enjoyed. So it's an interesting balance of allowing new economic and informational freedoms, but restricting them at the same time.
I'd argue it's not all bad, in that capitalism and freedom aren't something people just know how to deal with inherantly. For two good examples see Russia and Iraq.
In Russia, the country basically had capitalism thrust on them in a very short time. It has lead to chaos, massive economic problems, and rampant crime. The people didn't know hoe to set up a functioning capitalism, nobody told them how. Forever the state, (receantly communists, before that aristocracy) had told them what to do and how to do it, now there was nothing. Russia is STILL coping with these problems, and there isn't an end in sight.
In Iraq the people had freedom thrust on them in a very short time. They went from fearing being killed for pissing off the government in any way to being free to do nearly anything they wanted. The problem is that freedom has to have some limits in society. Well there are some, like the insurgents, that freedom means they should be free to impose their will on others, through violence if they want.
Now don't get me wrong, I certianly don't support China's human rights abuses or anything like that, but just because they aren't going full bore for free information and markets isn't necessiarly a bad thing. Rapid transitions can be a dangerous thing and cause all kinds of problems.
So China knows the Internet and it's free flow of information is a good thing, however at this point they don't want it to be completely unrestricted, for better or worse.
China treats the rest of the world a lot better than it treats its citizens. And, for what it's worth (not that I'm saying it's much), pre-emptive military action is more or less prohibited by their constitution. Considering our recent track record and international arrogance, this is something of an understandable position, pragmatically speaking.
If other reasons we do lack, we swear no one will die when we attack
What frightens me is that all this filtering and only exposing their people to information that the government wants them to hear turns it's citizens into zombies. I have seen my dad go wanting china to leave Taiwan alone to thinking that china is good for Taiwan. This change in thinking happened after he bought a condo in shanghai and lived there for a good many months. It also bothers me that he claims that there is no Internet filtering going on at all. It's really creepy, two years ago my dad hated china. Now he loves them. This is probably the desired effect though. Also a lot of people that I have talked to in china find it almost insulting to think of Taiwan as independent.
This message was brought to you by the death of 30 brain cells.
It would be so much better if China wouldn't censor all this crap. Sure, their retarded Communist government will fall apart within a decade, but so what? A Republic that is based on human freedom is going to be so much better for the world, not only because individuals will enjoy more freedoms, but also because the Chinese currency will become subject to the same market forces as other currencies around the world, which will increase the Chinese standard of living to a significantly higher level than it currently is.
In America we are given the righ to free speach. And this is actually a dangious right to have. Free Speach can give ideas that people will miss interpreate and twist around, or give them ideas that could be harmful to society.
You must recognize that the concept of "that which is harmful to society" is equivalent to "that which is immoral."
Given that, you must agree with me that free speech gives people the right to have immoral thoughts.
But who is the arbiter of what is a moral thought and what is an immoral thought? Christians think that my talking about gay rights is an immoral thought. I think that Christians' belief in superstition and mysticism is immoral. The fact is that everyone defines for themselves which thoughts are moral and which are not. The whole purpose behind free speech is that everyone opines but does not know which thoughts are immoral and moral, so let people think and say what they want and limit the prohibitive powers of government to only those actions which deprive individuals of life, liberty, or property. You don't have the right to not be offended.
Due to this, people will say things that you think are evil and they have a right to say them. I say that I do not believe in god and people get hopping mad. I say that I do not think AIDS is a single disease caused by a pathogen and people get really fsking, fist-shaking, screaming mad. The right to free speech protects me in these cases, just like it protects you when you say that "free speech is a dangerous right," which makes me a little hot under the collar.
I don't make the rules. I just make fun of them.
Censorship and Propoganda work hand in hand. You have to give people the impression that the truth is available to them - while simultaneously handling them falsehood - and filtering dissent. The average internet user in China could very well assume that they have access everything they need about the truth. Hey...they could call the Chinese Ministry of The Internet the Ministry of Truth...!
Erm, there is a major problem, and it's to do with attitudes like yours.
Ever wondered why the rest of the world treats the US as a threat? It's because when Americans get in a group known as 'Government', they become obsessive patriots who cannot see beyond the US borders and the "might" of the "god-blessed stars and stripes" of the "noble country" that is the USA.
The fear is perfectly logical, no other country thinks they have the right to rule the world, and no other country to my knowledge has such a background of being generally self-righteous assholes.
Not to say that Americans aren't fine, some of my best friends are American. It's just when you get in groups you suddenly become completely immune to common sense.
I trust China over the US, at least they're open and efficient about censorship. The US needs 14 think-tanks, 3 government surveys, 12 months, $250,000 and a lot of secrecy to censor anything. Unless someone says it's going to "harm the children", in which case it's deal with in 2 days despite evidence to the contrary.
How many people can read hex if only you and dead people can read hex?
Everyone complains about China and other asian countries, yet no one says anything about the filtering in the united arab emirates, saudi arabia, yemen, sudan, egypt etc. All those middle eastern and african counties. Perhaps its because most of the countries supply oil? Their human rights records are abysmal, and their internet censorship, media black outs, and press restrictions are far worse than China. Yet it's China this and China that. There is no need to defend China, but at least be fair about the criticism, and criticise proportionally to the level of injustice. Those countries listed in this paragraph deserve far more criticism and attention from the media in our world than China.
I agree that many voters would want this, but I doubt the Republican politicans would ever actually do it. The politicians are in a beneficial cycle at the moment, where they are elected by people who desperately want them to do certain things, most of which would be bad strategy for them to actually do.
It's far more beneficial to give the appearance of strenuously fighting porn than to actually eradicate it, since that would be one fewer thing the politicians in question could get elected to do next term.
-- Fratz, human
I want to know what this orgy over China is all about? It seems too many of the enlightened class of the world believe that if act all "nice nice" with China that that will somehow reform them.
NOT!
China is playing countries off on each other to great effect. They are setting the stage to walk all over Taiwan. They will get it to the point that the EU will probably actively prevent the US from exercising their promise to protect this island country.
China sits there and violates most things that both the EU and the US find offensive yet all the EU and US can do is bicker about each other. They both bend over backwards to accomodate China.
What will it take? Execution of thousands who find a way to protest during the Olympics? China alreay executes thousands each year! How about destruction of Taiwan? Will that be allowed? When will that occur? Before or after the Olympics.
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.