China Closes More Than 13,000 Websites in Past Three Years (reuters.com)

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China Closes More Than 13,000 Websites in Past Three Years (reuters.com)

Posted by msmash on Monday December 25, 2017 @01:30PM from the my-way-or-highway dept.

China has closed more than 13,000 websites since the beginning of 2015 for breaking the law or other rules and the vast majority of people support government efforts to clean up cyberspace, state news agency Xinhua reports. From the report: The government has stepped up already tight controls over the internet since President Xi Jinping took power five years ago, in what critics say is an effort to restrict freedom of speech and prevent criticism of the ruling Communist Party. The government says all countries regulate the internet, and its rules are aimed at ensuring national security and social stability and preventing the spread of pornography and violent content. A report to the on-going session of the standing committee of China's largely rubber stamp parliament said the authorities had targeted pornography and violence in their sweeps of websites, blogs and social media accounts, Xinhua said.

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Why? by Anonymous Coward · 2017-12-25 13:53 · Score: 5, Interesting

What I don't understand is, why does China's government even *care* about porn? It's an atheist state that theoretically was spared the neurotic hang-ups Christianity has inflicted on the rest of the world.
Ditto, for China's official opposition to homosexuality & gay rights. With China's goal of limiting population growth & keeping people content, you'd think it would actively *encourage* guys who like dick to stick to guys... fewer babies, and more women for the men who genuinely *want* a woman.
China has a *serious* problem with its lopsided male-majority population. If every single woman in China married one man, something like 5-10% of its population would never be able to have a Chinese wife because too many women aborted female babies back in the 70s & 80s because they wanted their one (and only) child to be a son. Those men are a far bigger threat to China's social order than porn and gay people could *ever* be.
1. Re:Why? by AHuxley · 2017-12-25 14:15 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Communism does not like the mind of their workers been polluted by decadent outside influences.
  Entertainment, fiction, science fiction, art, culture all takes time away from the teachings of Communism.
  It weakens the society and results in people escaping inwards after work. Less of a communist community results as more people withdraw into their own self centred and selfish pastimes after work.
  
  Another reason why Communism hates and censors everything creative or fun is to keep CIA/MI6 backed NGO's, ideas, hobbies, lifestyles and artists out of China.
  They spread lifestyles what weaken workers and disrupt the communist way of life with ideas of voting, creativity, freedom, democracy and the rule of law.
  Imagine not going to work in China in a mil uniform and having to work for the mil all day for a low wage? Starting your own company and not having to ask the mil/party if you can sell, export, attend a conference, go to another nation to get a real education? Not having the Communist party have a say over housing, health care, your pension, mmil service, work and education?
  Communist ideology does not like that kind of disruption to its workers. So it censors anything that can upset and disrupt its hold on power.
  Censorship stops the CIA/MI6 from trying a color revolution in China. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
  
  --
  Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
2. Re:Why? by whoever57 · 2017-12-25 15:36 · Score: 1
  
  How many years ago did you register that username, intending to use it to make the most relevant post?
  IOW: user name checks out!
  
  --
  The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
3. Re:Why? by AmiMoJo · 2017-12-25 17:09 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  China isn't communist. I'm in China right now, it's a monument to consumerism. Capitalism is huge here, people value material possessions and bling more than anything. "Imported" brands (made in China) are the most desirable.
  China is just authoritarian. Not socialist, definitely not that, and not communist in any meaningful way. It's no more communist than the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is democratic.
  
  --
  const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
  SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
4. Re:Why? by LeftCoastThinker · 2017-12-25 18:44 · Score: 3, Informative
  
  Hint for those not paying attention: China doesn't care about porn.
  They will knock some of the porn sites offline because it gives them a PC cover to restrict political speech that they don't like or that might challenge the oligarchs in the communist party, which is communist in name only, they are just the new ruling class in China and everyone else in China are their surfs.
  
  --
  If you disagree, please post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like
5. Re: Why? by hackwrench · 2017-12-25 19:58 · Score: 1
  
  But this doesn't sound like regulation but am outright ban.
6. Re:Why? by Botnet-of-People · 2017-12-25 20:00 · Score: 1
  
  Not socialist, definitely not that, and not communist in any meaningful way.
  
  To be pedantic (i.e. meaninglessly strict in meaning), no country today is Communist. Communism is supposed to be the end state, when the state and the party wither away, leaving behind a classless society of equals. That's the theory anyway. As for the practice, we can see very fine example of how it's not done. I suspect that only Clarke's proverbial magical technology can bring about this true communist ideal, when every person can 3-D print his or hers every need, from their food to their clothes to their jet packs. At which point we'd see a convergence of the extreme forms of various non-mainstream secular ideologies, from libertarianism to anarchism to Star Trek socialism.
7. Re:Why? by SuricouRaven · 2017-12-25 20:50 · Score: 1
  
  For almost all people, their moral judgements are founded in only two principles: "This makes me feel icky, therefore it is wrong" and "People get punished for this, therefore it is wrong." Pornography makes a lot of people feel icky. It's also an excellent pretext for controlling the internet. Once you have a national censorship system in place to 'protect the children,' it's almost trivial to use it to censor other things too.
8. Re:Why? by SuricouRaven · 2017-12-25 20:58 · Score: 1
  
  I have seen many organisations claim that porn destroys society. I have seen many claim that they have scientific backing for their claim. I have even gone so far as to examine some of this backing, though as a layperson I am not competent to fully analyse the published body of work.
  I have concluded that, though research in the area is very difficult to carry out, there is no solid evidence that widespread availability of pornography is harmful to society. It seems to have surprisingly little impact at all.
  Plus, on some common sense but unscientific reasoning: If pornography were a threat to society, the collapse would have been very apparent shortly after the internet became widely available. The sheer quantity and variety of pornography now available for almost zero effort is so vast it cannot even be measured - if it was going to destroy society, the effects would surely be readily apparent by now.
9. Re:Why? by Hal_Porter · 2017-12-25 22:24 · Score: 1
  
  A better question is "Why did Hillary think dressing in a Mao suit was a good idea?". You'd think her media buddies would have their finger on the pulse of Middle American opinion and advise her against them it.
  
  --
  echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
10. Re:Why? by drinkypoo · 2017-12-25 22:54 · Score: 1
  
  I suspect that only Clarke's proverbial magical technology can bring about this true communist ideal, when every person can 3-D print his or hers every need, from their food to their clothes to their jet packs.
  I suspect that nothing short of that coupled with a benevolent AI which allocates wealth can bring about a true communist ideal, because some humans are always trying to have more than other humans so they can feel like they're better than they are. This is why anarchy leads naturally to feudalism.
  
  --
  "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
11. Re:Why? by Botnet-of-People · 2017-12-26 00:37 · Score: 1
  
  I suspect that only Clarke's proverbial magical technology can bring about this true communist ideal, when every person can 3-D print his or hers every need, from their food to their clothes to their jet packs.
  I suspect that nothing short of that coupled with a benevolent AI which allocates wealth can bring about a true communist ideal, because some humans are always trying to have more than other humans so they can feel like they're better than they are. This is why anarchy leads naturally to feudalism.
  What is wealth but the potential to acquire the things that you want? This would be fully satisfied by universal self-production. Only the truly sociopathic would desire to have more than 10 cars when a single one would do fine. And if I'm happy having one or say at most three different cars (sports, sedan, and off-road), why should I care if the billionaire next door has 365 cars for each day of the year? I think there's a practical limit to human envy and greed. Or to put it in more practical terms, if you're the hungry homeless guy on the street you can look longingly through fast-food restaurant window at the Big Mac on the corner table feasting on two quarter pounders one after the other, but if you're a fellow diner who had just finished your own McChicken lunch (after having become mildly ecoconscious from watching some famous Hollywood actor's documentary about the relationship between cow farts and climate change), does it matter if the guy sitting next to you has a dozen quarter pounders piled on his table?
12. Re:Why? by DNS-and-BIND · 2017-12-26 01:07 · Score: 1
  
  Oh bullshit, China is just taking the capitalist road to achieve socialism. It's as obvious as the nose on your face. Remember Deng Xiaoping and his "reforms"? Of course you don't. The government absolutely does arrest people for having unapproved ideas.
  
  --
  Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
13. Re:Why? by drinkypoo · 2017-12-26 01:20 · Score: 1
  
  I think there's a practical limit to human envy and greed.
  Why?
  
  if you're the hungry homeless guy on the street you can look longingly through fast-food restaurant window at the Big Mac on the corner table feasting on two quarter pounders one after the other, but if you're a fellow diner who had just finished your own McChicken lunch (after having become mildly ecoconscious from watching some famous Hollywood actor's documentary about the relationship between cow farts and climate change), does it matter if the guy sitting next to you has a dozen quarter pounders piled on his table?
  We can ask that question when we run out of hungry homeless guys, especially since there are currently wealthy people avoiding taxes and putting their money into tax havens where it does nothing but accrue more zeroes until they die. If the so-called "job creators" actually invested that money, it actually would create jobs, and then that guy could have a burger.
  
  --
  "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
14. Re:Why? by jbmartin6 · 2017-12-26 01:56 · Score: 1
  
  To me it always seemed like a relic of the old Confucian ethics system, where 'unfilial' sexual activities which didn't contribute to the ongoing survival of the family were bad things. Way way back, becoming a Buddhist monk fell in this category and there was quite a bit of friction with Confucians as a result.
  
  --
  This posting is provided 'AS IS' without warranty of any kind, implied or otherwise.
15. Re:Why? by luis_a_espinal · 2017-12-26 23:05 · Score: 1
  
  What I don't understand is, why does China's government even *care* about porn? It's an atheist state that theoretically was spared the neurotic hang-ups Christianity has inflicted on the rest of the world.
  Ditto, for China's official opposition to homosexuality & gay rights. With China's goal of limiting population growth & keeping people content, you'd think it would actively *encourage* guys who like dick to stick to guys... fewer babies, and more women for the men who genuinely *want* a woman.
  China has a *serious* problem with its lopsided male-majority population. If every single woman in China married one man, something like 5-10% of its population would never be able to have a Chinese wife because too many women aborted female babies back in the 70s & 80s because they wanted their one (and only) child to be a son. Those men are a far bigger threat to China's social order than porn and gay people could *ever* be.
  Just because China is an atheist state, that doesn't mean it is an open, liberal culture. In many ways Chinese culture (or CJKV cultures for that matter) lack some of the ridiculous mores of the West (specially Bible Belt mores.) But they are still very macho-oriented, prude societies.
  In the case of China, the CCP still copes with Chinese cultural attitudes and nixes anything that might seem as "destabilizing" even if it is utterly ridiculous from our POV. It's about Confusian harmony, personal liberties are subverted to that.
  When you see the Communist Party doing something in terms of policy, remember that. You cannot analyze it through Western cultural eyeglasses.
And compared to the USA? by Anonymous Coward · 2017-12-25 13:58 · Score: 1

We know China does this; that is how their 'legal' system works. There is no news here.
How about some real news, like how many sites the DoJ has shutdown in the past three years?
1. Re:And compared to the USA? by AHuxley · 2017-12-25 14:27 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  In the USA you can publish fiction, non fiction, science fiction, art and music. Books, art, movies, comments, reviews in the USA can contain any number of decadent lifestyles.
  People can buy your books, art, music, review and comment on your past work.
  In the USA you are free to buy and then read a book form Japan, South Korea. No questions later in the USA.
  People in the USA have freedom of speech and freedom after speech.
  No neighborhood committees reporting book reading habits to a Communist party.
  In the USA you are free to talk about an author, to an author, comment on their books, write your own book, sell a book, import a book. No totalitarian communist party to stop your freedom in the USA.
  Communist China has absolute control over their nations internet, VPN use, media and publications.
  The USA has and protects freedom.
  Communism in China has control.
  
  --
  Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
2. Re:And compared to the USA? by kikukikuki · 2017-12-25 14:31 · Score: 1
  
  When DoJ shuts down websites, it is not okay, but when Cloudflare shuts down daily-stormer, it is okay.
3. Re:And compared to the USA? by kikukikuki · 2017-12-25 14:34 · Score: 1
  
  Are Facebook, Tweeter, Cloudflare all under Chinese communist control?
  If no, why then they are entitled to shut down any site / page, and/or close accounts, for no reason?
4. Re:And compared to the USA? by AHuxley · 2017-12-25 14:42 · Score: 1
  
  Re "for no reason?"
  Western companies and their SJW staff are willing to support the communist legal system if they think the Communist party profits will flow back into their fully complaint company.
  Total censorship is no problem for western companies if they think they will be protected in a Communist nation.
  Once they have shown a good attitude western companies who fully supported communism might also get to block emerging global completion.
  Entering a new market and having a near monopoly? Thats win win in a communist nation.
  
  --
  Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
5. Re:And compared to the USA? by Desler · 2017-12-25 16:17 · Score: 1
  
  They’re entitled to for the same reason i can tell you to get out of my house and off my lawn. You may have freedom of speech but I don’t have to use my private property as your platform.
6. Re:And compared to the USA? by fustakrakich · 2017-12-25 17:17 · Score: 1
  
  The USA has and protects freedom.
  Communism in China has control.
  And you have Poe's Law
  
  --
  “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
7. Re:And compared to the USA? by SuricouRaven · 2017-12-25 20:41 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Except it doesn't work. China has a history of forcing out foreign companies as soon as a domestic version is available, no matter how much the foreign company bends over backwards to comply with Chinese censorship laws.
8. Re:And compared to the USA? by larryjoe · 2017-12-25 22:18 · Score: 1
  
  You forget the most important part. In the US, there is a sacrosanct freedom to directly and openly criticize the government by the press and individuals, including calling for the removal of the current leaders, the changing of laws, and the callings of assemblies to protest the government. These are by far the most important of the freedoms in the US and why the first amendment is the first in the Bill of Rights.
9. Re:And compared to the USA? by AHuxley · 2017-12-26 14:15 · Score: 1
  
  Some big western brands still think they can stay in China and won't be domesticated because they did censorship so well.
  
  --
  Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
10. Re: And compared to the USA? by Reverend+Green · 2017-12-26 17:30 · Score: 1
  
  Fake progressive shitheads sure do love big corporations and hate freedom of speech.
Re:China is evil by Desler · 2017-12-25 14:59 · Score: 1

Last time I checked, Facebook doesn’t have the ability to jail and/or execute people. So the level of “evil” Facebook can commit pales in comparispn.
I've closed more than 13,000 Chinese IP's... by Kernel+Krumpit · 2017-12-25 16:45 · Score: 1

China. Great place but, ... not for the whole weekend. I've blocked more than 13,000 Chinese IP's since the beginning of 2015 for breaking my own website rules. 13,000 plus Chinese IP web blocks. Check it out: http://itnorthwest.ca/deny-by-... Boo Ya.

--
May the lies we live by make us strong, healthy, happy and wise - Kurt Vonnegut.
1. Re:I've closed more than 13,000 Chinese IP's... by Kernel+Krumpit · 2017-12-25 16:49 · Score: 1
  
  Rhetorical for sure but why is it so difficult to write a proper post, first or second time, on Slashdot.whatever?
  
  --
  May the lies we live by make us strong, healthy, happy and wise - Kurt Vonnegut.
Nice grammar on the title by zwarte+piet · 2017-12-25 23:37 · Score: 2

said noone
LOL by jbmartin6 · 2017-12-26 01:58 · Score: 2

This gave me a chuckle:

the vast majority of people support government efforts to clean up cyberspace, state news agency Xinhua reports.

--
This posting is provided 'AS IS' without warranty of any kind, implied or otherwise.
Re: China is evil by Reverend+Green · 2017-12-26 17:22 · Score: 1

Facebook is well known for collaboration with the Stasi. They do their part to feed the Gulag.