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."

Comments

Why doesn't china just Ban the internet

[John Seminal]

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

With all this work to ban websites, why doesn't China just ban the internet. I am sure they could pass a law making it illegal, shutting down all ISP's.

Shutting down a specific website is alot of work, and someone will get through if they really want to. Someone will find a proxy, or find some website that will pass along the data.

I am suprised China does not declare the internet "not useful" and just bans it. They can tell the people to use "traditional" sources of information like newspapers.

Re:Falun Gong

[mldqj]

You guys can say what you want about Li Hongzhi, I just hope you don't make a huge mistake. It should be noted that there is PERSECUTION going on in China where the CCP is murdering, brainwashing, and torturing people who practice Falun Gong, a practice that centers itself on what it considers to be the cosmic characteristic of the universe TRUTHFULNESS, COMPASSION AND FOREBEARANCE (Zhen-Shan-Ren)

Given the fact (as shown in the Time interview) that the leader of Fa Lungong is either a liar or an idiot, I wouldn't care what their own website says. Brainwash is more likely a practice done by Falun Gong rather than the Chinese government. I've heard of people who attempt suicide or/and to kill other people to reach "the higher level" that Li Hongzhi talked about.

I was in China when the government banned Falun Gong, and I know quite a few people who were Falun Gong followers. None of them were killed. Although the government kept some of these guys isolated until they think it's safe to release them.