The global nature of the internet, the while geographic distribution of its users and the diverse character of its contents lead many policy-makers to believe that the activity in the cyberspace is beyond the regulation and the control of any single state.
Former US president, Bill Clinton, once compared controlling the internet with “trying to nail a Jello to the wall”.
Jiang Zemin, on the other hand, drew attention to the dangers of spreading “unhealthy” information and appealed to the international community to develop common mechanisms for “safe information management”.
Editorials in the People’s Daily speak of hostile forces at home and abroad trying to infiltrate the country via internet.
Even liberal democratic countries tend to accept the need for control when it comes to issues like the dissemination of child pornography, racism, the instigation of violence, rightist extremism and hate speech.
Many regulations of the internet in China are intended to benefit internet users, such as measures protecting consumers by governing online trading in pharmaceuticals and online educational services, or upholding intellectual property rights and individual privacy.
More directly questions related to control and censorship, however, are various provisions that were included in a raft of regulations that was introduced in the year of 2000 to govern telecommunications and the publication of news and electronic information on the internet.
The main forbidden topics or contents are the ones related to the Falungong movement, Tibetan independence, Human rights violations and the Republic of China in Taiwan.
Blocking of websites is an obvious case of proactive censorship, and it is applied mainly to websites operated by foreign news service like CNN, the BBC or international Human Rights organizations. Blocks are sometimes temporarily lifted on special occasions.
Blocking of websites is an obvious case of proactive censorship, and it is applied mainly to websites operated by foreign news service like CNN, the BBC or international Human Rights organizations. Blocks are sometimes temporarily lifted on special occasions.
Internet cafes have been raided several times by security forces. Between April and June 2001, 56,800 were inspected on a national scale. A minimum distance of 200 meters is required, from government offices, army units and party organizations, as well as from primary and middle schools [1]
Special police units are charged with the central tasks of fighting cyber crime, ensuring IT security by “keeping order” in cyberspace. In Hong Kong an advertisement was published in order to recruit members for a Special Hacker Force. According to a local magazine, the Chinese Military was looking for a few good men - to be trained in the art of hacking over the Internet… called for the development of a hacking capability made up of civilian experts and specially trained military personnel that could engage in online and Internet warfare.[2]
Aiming to safeguard the security in computer networks and to fight against cyber crime, the Chinese government has launched the Golden Shield project. It consists in connecting together the databases and surveillance systems of national and local police stations. The curious aspect of this project is that the technological apparatuses/softwares are provided by Western firms, such as Cisco Systems.
Another method reported to have been used stifle debate is to reduce data transfer speed before sensitive dates approach, for example 4th June, date of Tiananmen massacre.
In August 2001, it was reported that the International Broadcasting Bureau, the parent company of the Voice of America has entered a project to undermine the China’s efforts to censor the Internet. The “Triangle Boy”, a method for maintaining anonymity in cyberspace. Soon, after September 11th this venture ran into problems, since the atmosphere in the US became more sympathetic to strengthen online surveillance.
I could notice that the majority of annalists who have followed and studied the development of the internet in China in more depth do not support the picture of a State rendered powerless over an incontrollable Internet, but tend to conclude that the authorities are able to exert their control over online users as much by simple intimidation as by sophisticated electronic surveillance or by blocking direct access to politically suspect foreign websites.
I understand that this does not mean that Internet is politically irrelevant, just that it is not causing significant social change, so far. What can be said of the Internet can be said of the other media in China as well.
[1] Staff, Newsbytes, Hong Kong, August 4, 1999. In JONES, Andy. , KOVACICH, Gerald L., LUZWICK, Perry G. Global Information Warfare. CRC Press LCC, Boca Raton, FL. 2002. p.232.
[2] HUGHES, Christofer R., WACKER, Gudrun. China and the Internet: Politics of the digital leap forward. Routledge Curzon, London 2003. p 230.
Related link: PBS Frontline "The Tank Man" Chapter 6 - The Struggle to Control Information: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tankman/view/
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