China To Plant Internet Police In Top Online Firms

itwbennett writes: Websites based in China already have to abide by strict provisions for online censorship, and will often delete any content deemed offensive by government censors. But under a new plan announced Tuesday by the Ministry of Public Security security forces will be placed at the offices of the country's major websites, so that they can quickly respond to suspected online crimes. No specific companies were mentioned in the statement put out by the Ministry, but the country's biggest Internet firms include Alibaba Group, Baidu and Tencent.

Comments

And?

[gstoddart]

And we're supposed to think this is different from Western governments demanding crypto backdoors, the ability to intercept at the data center, and secret warrants allowing them to demand all info in secret?

Sorry, but all governments are trending towards fascism, that China is doing this surprises me not even a little.

What we should be outraged at is the fact the governments of "free" countries are half way to doing the same fucking thing.

Sure, it's not outright censorship yet ... but give it time.

The difference is I don't need to give a fuck what the Chinese government does. I have no ability to stop the US government or other western governments doing the same thing, and that does affect me.

Re:And?

[drinkypoo]

And we're supposed to think this is different from Western governments demanding crypto backdoors, the ability to intercept at the data center, and secret warrants allowing them to demand all info in secret?

It is different, but the difference is one of degree, not character. These guys will be doing a lot of work to censor everyday speech. Our guys do a little bit of work to target individuals.

Re:And?

[gstoddart]

So, it's good because it's only fascism-lite for now?

Because, honestly, the fact that it's stepping all over the law and the Constitution to do it tells me there should be a lot more outrage than there is.

You know, like the nationally endorsed perjury they call "parallel construction" and the police forces which want to hide the fact they illegally use surveillance technology without a warrant?

I have yet to be convinced they actually only target individuals. In fact, I'm pretty sure what they do amounts to general warrants.

But, no, let's keep pretending our own governments aren't trying to do the same exact thing and that it's only a little illegal curtailing of our rights and a tiny amount of ignoring due process of law.

Re:And?

[fustakrakich]

Fascism does not come from government. It comes from us. It is a peoples movement. A government does what is demanded of it, or it ceases to exist.

Re:And?

[drinkypoo]

So, it's good because it's only fascism-lite for now?

You should know by now that if I had meant that, I would have said it. It's just less bad, at this time. That's all I said, that's all I meant.

Re:And?

[gstoddart]

LOL, I do know that ... but I find it useful to convey the explicit outrage for the slower among us who actually think this is somehow different.

Far too many people act as if it's really OK because we're the good guys, and miss the entire point.

Re:And?

[tehcyder]

You are assuming that

a) Elections are free and fair and b) that there are any alternative political parties that can win an election that do not want this to continue.

I question whether either of these are true.

Western elections are free and fair and other parties can win elections. The problem is that people either don't vote, or they vote for an existing party, since it's hard (and for most people unappealing) work to actually get involved in politics.

Only now?

[Flavianoep]

I guess the news is that they had not done that yet.

Re:Not really news...

[Penguinisto]

So wait... you want the government to basically have a say in every major corporation's decision? The same government that is practically owned by the same major corporations?

Yay recursion?

I imagine

[The-Ixian]

You are at the office, about to hit the enter key.

You look across the room to where the Internet Police officer is sitting.

He has his usual scowl and does the two finger point from his eyes to yours and shakes his head back and forth ever so slightly.

You gulp and hit the backspace key.

Already happens for large US companies

[captaindomon]

This already happens for large US companies, think Google, Microsoft, Verizon, etc. I'm sure they all have on-site government reps from some major departments to make it easier and quicker to process requests back and forth.

Re:Already happens for large US companies

[Hussman32]

I would be surprised if they were on-site. I'm certain they may get visitor parking, but on-site is a commitment that most companies would not want to support.

Re:Already happens for large US companies

[anegg]

I know because of work that I've done as a government contractor that the IRS has semi-permanent staff located at certain large businesses to aid in resolving audit issues, and similar arrangements are in place between the OCC (banking supervisors) and certain large banks. However, I have never heard of government regulators in place at large web publishers in order to keep them from publishing "inappropriate content" (or to respond quickly if/when they do). You could paint me "very surprised" (practically incredulous) if anyone has evidence of this.

Re:Not really news...

[gstoddart]

Well, that's where the regulatory capture comes in. For some, it's a stated goal.

In case you haven't been paying attention, it's already happened.

Lobbyists work for government long enough to stack the deck before they return to being lobbyists. Corporations write the laws which give them the best deal.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

Our future is China today

[AndyKron]

Our future is China today

compartmentalize it

[Karmashock]

you can put anyone in the company... even someone trying to fuck you over. You just know who they are and control what they have access to... even whether what they have access to is everything.

Its not that hard.

Here someone will say "but they're on the board of directors!"... the boards of directors are frequently mushrooms... kept in the dark and fed shit. They're often jokes. The CEO knows. The chief officers know. But the board? meh. Depends on who is on the board. Simply being on the board doesn't mean anyone gives a shit. Its why disney put some school teachers on their own board. Sort of like Caligula putting a horse on the roman senate. It means the board is pointless whenever you see that.

As to the internet police getting access to things... mostly what the chinese want to do is flood all social networks with pro chinese messages.

"oh I love the chinese communist party"
"Isn't china wonderful"
"another beautiful day in Beijing!"

Etc. That's what they want. And if that's all they want... go nuts.

Re:compartmentalize it

[Required Snark]

Not only do they flood the internet with positive propaganda, but they have lists of banned words and phrases for censorship purposes. If you want to follow this real in time check out China Digital Times. They cover all the news that the Chinese Communist Party (CPP) wants to cover up.

Those on the net critical of the CCP are very savvy, and have come up with their own set of terms for avoiding/parodying, well, everything. It's called the Grass-Mud Horse, aka an Alpaca. The phrase translated as Grass-Mud Horse sounds nearly the same in Mandarin as “f--k your mother”. It was the title of a satyric song "originally coined to get around, and also poke fun at, government censorship of vulgar content", and rapidly became the symbol of those seeking to outwit censorship.

As one Chinese blogger explained, “The grass-mud horse represents information and opinions that cannot be accepted by the mainstream discourse, and the ‘Song of the Grass-Mud Horse’ has become a metaphor of the power struggle over Internet expression.”

It's very interesting. A lot of it is based on Chinese slang and history, so understanding it requires some added interpretation, which is supplied at the China Digital Times. It is very interesting and cleaver, and well worth the effort.

Repeal the 3rd Amendment

[jfdavis668]

Then we can station troops in peoples homes here in the US. That way we can keep an eye on everyone and prevent crime, movie piracy, terrorism or whatever.

Re:Repeal the 3rd Amendment

[jfdavis668]

/. needs a "like" button.

Was it just me?

[OhSoLaMeow]

I glanced at the headline and read "China To Plant Internet Police In Top Online Farms"

And I was thinking that you don't want to plant the police too deep.

And make sure they get plenty of water and fertilizer.