Net censorship: the basics
Antony Loewenstein 1 April 2008, 05:15PM
Sign at a net cafe reads, "Please come with me because you published materials to harm the unity of the nation". © Elizabeth Dalziel/AP/PA Photo
By Antony Loewenstein
1996 was dubbed China’s “Year of the Internet.” Only 150,000 people were connected, roughly one in 10,000. The vast majority of the mainland had never seen a computer and there were 17 people for every available phone line.
A computer engineer in his 30s, dubbed Comrade X, told Wired magazine in 1996 that the regime was determined to control the flow of information. “People are used to being wary”, he said, “and the general sense that you are under surveillance acts as a disincentive. The key to controlling the net in China is in managing people, and this is a process that begins the moment you purchase a modem.”
In just over a decade, the Communist country has become the world’s largest internet market with well over 210 million users - adding six million newbies a month - and developed a burgeoning scene that has connected disparate segments of a fractured society.
Gamers in rural areas play with city dwellers. Boys in major cities connect with girls on the other side of the country. Local officials are forced to respond to citizen’s complaints and needs. The web has increased transparency but also allowed authorities to better monitor what its citizens are thinking and writing. There are only a tiny percentage of Chinese actively involved in the political process advocating for democratic change.
The Chinese Community Party, with the assistance of Western internet firms, has established a sophisticated filtering system, known as the “Great Firewall” or the “Golden Shield.” It blocks and censors countless websites from within China and overseas, physically monitoring all information coming in and out of the country. Routers are employed to detect problematic keywords, from Taiwan to Tibet and democracy to Falun Gong. The regime is rumoured to have up to 30,000 individuals checking daily for “harmful information”. The system, however, is not infallible and many web users utilise proxies to circumvent the filtering.
The exact extent of the censorship is impossible to determine but leaks occasionally provide an insight into the mind of the regime’s paranoia. “Working instructions” from a propaganda unit emerged in early 2008 that detailed the requirements to be implemented. Some examples:
On the assassination of [Pakistani politician Benazir] Bhutto, only report on the objective occurrences and reactions from various parties, do not associate the event with Pakistan’s internal struggles, or with Pakistani terrorist forces, thus avoiding attracting fire onto ourselves and getting involved in Pakistan’s internal problems.
Strengthen positive guidance. Web sites should proactively guide public opinion in a positive way, highlight positive voices and create a pro-NPC online environment.
The vast majority of Chinese web users are interested in downloading films, chatting to boys and girls and playing online games. I discovered during my investigations in China in 2007 that the issue of censorship didn’t greatly bother many citizens. They knew it existed and they found ways around it. Nobody told me they felt repressed or silenced. Although most people I met were aware of filtering employed by the regime, they didn’t really understand how many sites were being blocked. Ignorance was the key driver in their attitudes. Human rights activists viewed the system radically differently, of course, but the average blogger and web user was kept blissfully clueless thanks to a supine state media.
The Western media’s obsession with the 1989 Tiananmen Massacre has clouded the ability of outsiders to cover the undoubted societal advances since that fateful event. Think-tanks are flourishing. Environmentalists are able to launch public campaigns. Local bloggers rally around parents who have had children stolen to work as slaves in brick kilns. Internet majors such as Google are being challenged for their collusion with officials, though CNN was recently caught appeasing Chinese sentiments over its perceived pro-Tibetan stance.
Despite these advances, China’s human rights record remains deeply troubling. Its control over the internet is being copied around the world. The approaching Beijing Olympic Games has revealed the regime’s true colours with leading dissidents arrested and charged on spurious charges of “subverting” the state. Hu Jia is the leading example of this trend and is awaiting sentence soon.
“Why can't China accept that dissent and argument are part of being a normal country?”, asks leading Hong Kong-based academic and former CNN journalist Rebecca MacKinnon. “Why behave in such an insecure manner that violates international human rights norms, damages China's international image, and distracts media attention away from the Chinese people's genuine accomplishments over the past 30 years - as well as from the excitement of the sports competition itself?”
The August Games provide a unique opportunity to highlight China’s inherent contradictions. It is at once desperate to impress a sceptical world that it’s genuine about entering the global conversation on trade, the environment and human rights but conscious that its excesses have the possibility to expose its deeply engrained authoritarianism. Its recent crackdown on Tibetan protestors resulted in international calls to boycott the Olympic opening ceremony in protest.
The regime promised in 2007 to maintain “socialism for 100 years”, dashing any hopes of speedy democratic reforms. Internal dissent, routinely expressed through blogs and online forums, is an encouraging sign that citizens will no longer remain silent in the face of economic and political hardship. The internet may not revolutionise the nation but it will be continue to connect a young population unwilling to accept the doctrines of previous generations.
Antony Loewenstein is a Sydney-based journalist, blogger and author.
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I’m part of the web team here at Amnesty International Australia. We use online tools to help build communities of supporters and activists working on human rights issues in Australia and our region. Register on our website to take action and get involved.
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Comments are submitted by members of the public and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or positions of Amnesty International Australia. If you find a comment objectionable please contact the web editor.
Raul Galeote
4 April 2008, 09:14PM
We protest by the computer censorship that has China, but the companies of world-wide seeking Internet and garndes are those that have censured pages by order of the Chinese Government. These companies also are guilty, but the money can but that the freedom of expression
wendy r. salisbury
4 April 2008, 03:41PM
Allan Greenspan has written `it is the technocrats in the Chinese Government who have pressed for market initiatives.The State Council and the Politburo also have become more market friendly,seeking advise. It will be interesting to see how history unfolds, in many aspects of Chinese society,in the future.
Anon
2 April 2008, 09:53PM
I am also a foreigner in China and using a good proxy. The level of censorship has really increased over the last month and most Chinese are aware of this and accept it. They may not know the extent of this but they do know it occurs. Most think that the west is out to ruin the Chinese reputation and standing in the world so people should not think that the typical local is out there campaigning for freedom because they are not. They have other more pressing needs at the moment - like keeping up with the hyper inflation.
American in China
2 April 2008, 06:56PM
Like most of the foreigners in China, and Chinese who are in the know, I use proxies to see “restricted” sites. I’m using one right now, as a matter of fact. The author of the article is right in that most Chinese aren’t aware of the extent of “filtering” that goes on. Through mass control of the media, and re-writing of history, the Communists keep most of the people in the dark.
Steve Brook
2 April 2008, 04:23PM
While yielding to no-one in condemning human rights abuses, I’d still be very careful about jumping on an anti-China bandwagon. Some people are still fighting the Cold War, and China remains the leading demon from that era, followed closely by Cuba and North Korea. Leave the Olympics to the athletes!
Patricia White
2 April 2008, 11:00AM
i want to show my support of the Chinese people in improving Human Rights. I am disgusted with the Chinese government and their repression of their own people and particularly shocked at the connivance of internet providers who support internet censorship in China. I think we should all boycott any media coverage of the Olympic Games as a protest.
Jenny Missen
2 April 2008, 10:29AM
Three years ago in a small town in China we visited a little English language school. We photographed children & teachers and later emailed them back as promised. Never had a response, so don’t know if the email got through.
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