Current censorship of internet in China - Essay Example

Current Censorship of the Internet in China Introduction The internet censorship or filtering refers to the process of confining the internet usersto limited parts of the internet by blocking those parts which the state reckons as highly sensitive for social, political, religious, cultural, or any other reason. This filtering often involves the tracking of users’ communication and internet activities by the filtering systems (Deibert et al, p.1). Today, more than 12% of the Chinese population comprises of the internet users. Unlike the other forms of media that were easily controlled by the state, the internet by being a direct source of public expression has become a challenge to be monitored effectively. Although many countries like Cuba, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Pakistan have been implementing internet censorship at a state level, China is so far considered to have the most sophisticated internet filtering system (Wiseman, 2008, p. 1A). Currently, five supervisory bodies are working together to monitor the internet in China (Tao, 2007, pp. 2 &3). Although existent since long, the issue of China’s policies towards internet filtering was conspicuously raised during the Beijing Olympics this year when the journalists from all parts of the worlds experienced problems in freely reporting and covering the event due to the blockage of certain sites like Amnesty International, the BBC, Radio Free Asia and several Hong Kong newspapers etc (Jacobs, 2008). Steps towards internet censorship have often been reckoned as a force against the freedom of expression. In the recent past, many Chinese newspapers have been a victim of the internet censorship as they were banned to be cited on the internet. For instance, on 8 May 2006, Beijing Internet Information Administrative Bureau issued a notice that restricted all the Chinese websites from using news articles from Minzhu yu Fazhi Shibao, a Chinese newspaper (Tao, 2007, p. 9). The internet censorship in China has greatly hindered the role of internet as an information service. For instance the users in the country cannot access the English version of sites like Wikipedia, which is available in the Chinese version of Alwiki only. Alwiki does not allow access to the articles pertaining to the sensitive issues like June 1989 massacre in Beijing (Callick, 2007, p.10). According to a research conducted by Jonathan Zittrain and Benjamin Edelman, during the year 2003 China had blocked the academic websites of institutions like Columbia and Virginia Universities which further marred the use of internet as a learning channel. Journalism in China has remained one of the most victimized areas of internet censorship in the country. By the limitation of access to news sites like BBC, CNN, Times Magazine, Philadelphia Inquirer and Miami Herald, Chinese journalists have been equally hindered in ensuring the delivery of news from all parts of the world. By the blockage of governmental sites like US Department of Defense and Voice of America, these journalists have been dissuaded from the probing and researching processes (Zittrain & Eldelman, p.73 & 74). The case of Sun Zhigang, who died in Guangzhou’s police custody as a result of torture, after being covered by Guangzhou’s Southern Metropolis Daily was rapidly promoted through the internet. In a matter of few days, the concerned web links became inaccessible to the citizens and the editors of the sites were forced to remain silent on the issue. This incident not only questioned the justice situations but also elucidated the victimization of journalism through internet censorship. Right after the controversy of China’s Internet Filtering during the Beijing Olympics, China today faces another threat in the form of the discovery of surveillance systems to monitor texts conversations on Skype. These systems continuously list the sensitive words and block them from being conveyed through Skype (Markoff, 2008). The concerned move not only affects the communication process but also questions the users’ right to privacy. The internet censorship policies in China not only violate the rights of expression and privacy but also slow down the process of raising awareness about human rights by blocking sites pertaining to human rights (Deibert et al, 2008, chap. 6). This paper, after succinctly introducing the concept of internet censorship, discusses the current policies and practices of internet filtering in China with its particular corollaries for the journalists. Internet – An Uncontrollable Global Network Internet is a product of the electronic-information-communicationalism paradigm. Contrary to the previous information ages that brought into existence the inventions like telephones and telegraphs, this phase has features like self expansion, recombination and distribution that’s makes it unique in nature (Castells, 2004, p.9). The most distinguishing characteristics of the contemporary information processes are the increasing number of users and a decreasing cost of usage thereby resulting in rapid expansion across the globe (ibid. p.10). As far as the adoption of the emerging technologies is concerned, some societies show a double logic of exclusion from and inclusion in the global networks. According to Castells, the networks supported by digitalism are global since the nation boundaries in such networks are diminished thereby resulting in a melting pot phenomenon. However many nations that are a part of such digital networks like the internet also aspire to maintain their national individuality. The state of China is one such example of fragmented societies. It is because at one hand the country has adopted internet whereas at the other hand the state has been confining its citizens to a limited use of the internet thereby becoming a major force in the process of imperfect globalization (ibid., 23). Internet in China Internet in the contemporary China is one of the fastest growing media. As depicted in Figure 1, every year brings a considerable increase in the number of Chinese people using the interne. Starting from 1994 with only 1600 registered users, today the figure has augmented to millions (Wong, 2001, p.18). As the number of internet literate people increases in China, there is a trend of proportionate increase in the Chinese websites and domains too (Wong, 2001, p.19). Initially, the internet users consisted of people belonging to highly educated and elite classes. However in the last few years as the internet technology has proliferated with cheaper rates, the net population of China has been augmented with users who are comparatively lesser educated, belonging to non elite classes and earning lesser incomes (Wong, 2001, p.27). Figure 1: Growth of Internet Users in China (China Internet Network Information Center, 2008, p.12) One of the major reasons behind this fast growth is the overall speedy adaptability of China for new technologies. Secondly, internet also brings opportunities for a competitive edge in global economy for the state. For the uncountable virtues of the internet, the government of China has been encouraging the spread of this technology in the country by providing greater bandwidth and promoting the overall IT growth (Wong, 2001, p.28). Internet Censorship in the Contemporary World Internet filtering by government is not confined to a particular number of states. Although, a few states may be stringent in its policies for internet censorship, almost all the internet facilitating countries practice the filtering process to some extent. Even in the United States there are many institutions that carry out the state-mandated filtering in its computer labs. In places like France and Germany, content related to Nazism is inaccessible. Similarly in the Northern European regions, online content pertaining to child pornography is censored by the concerned authorities (Zittrain, 2003, p.3). The practice of state-mandated internet filtering is stronger in places where there is a non-democratic rule. For the very reason in states like Saudi Arabia and Cuba where there is authoritarian rule the internet censorship is strongly implemented as compared to the Western states like United States and United Kingdom (USA Today, 2008, p.1a). According to Zittrain, there are around forty states that are practicing state-mandated internet filtering in one way or the other. These states can be classified into three categories according to their geographical locations. These areas are East Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, and central Asia. Internet Censorship in China Of all the states that have been practicing internet filtering, China is by far the only country that is practicing the process very extensively. Unlike many countries, the internet censorship in China is carried out at multiple levels to ensure that no unfavourable information reaches the users through internet. The major reason behind China’s severe censorship is that unlike other countries that have been aiming at a single objectionable area to be blocked, China has listed a number of issues ranging from political to moral as objectionable and required to be censored (2003, p.3). Internet censorship in China has its roots inveterate in times before the invention of internet. Foerstel believes that every form of media has been censored through it various stages (1998, p. 15). Although internet censorship has its existence in almost all the states within which internet is accessible to a common man, the role of censorship in authoritarian states like China and Saudi Arabia has an increasing importance. It is because of the fact that the internet provides the nongovernmental organizations and citizens to reach out to the global communities, arrange global activities, express their ideas and obtain the non conservative ideas of the non Chinese. Since such activities pose a direct threat to the government of China, there is a continuous monitoring of internet usage and filtering of certain material from the internet to maintain the eroding governmental control (Chase, 2002, p.12). Nature of Content Censored by the Chinese Government The content that is available online is censored on the basis of the ideas and thoughts expressed in them. The content may take several forms. Often misinterpreted as being the website related content, the internet censorship in China also involves the content transferred through messages and emails. As long as the conversations are concerned, the vocal discussions are often recorded and listened by the censoring agencies (Zittrain, p.2). The blocking practice of Chinese government is not just confined to the anti-governmental websites but also works for the websites which are liberal in their content and ideas. Some of these websites include those that support the rights of gays and lesbian and provide access to the sites related to sex (Goldsmith, 2006, p.92). These websites apparently pose no threat to the government. However at a profound level, the very websites have a potential of burgeoning a spirit of rebellion among the Chinese internet users who can further pose a direct threat against the non democratic rule in China. Generally the contents that are considered as objectionable involve the materials that threat national security, negatively impact social security, violate laws, support obscenities and spread wrong or anti-governmental news (ibid. p. 96) Tools and Ways of Internet Censorship in China Controlling the online activities across a country as huge as China is not the work of a single force or technique. Various techniques and teams are designed to effectively monitor and filter the internet content. Following are the major tools and ways employed by the government of China, 1. Firewalls: One of the major techniques used by the state is that of a Firewall. Similar to the firewalls in organizations, this firewall works to block certain content but at the level of the whole state instead of a little organization (Goldsmith, 2006, p.92). Cisco is working to provide the information barrier in China. The technical services of Cisco are coordinated with data provided by Internet Police and other such agencies working in China. The policing agencies spend a considerable time online to keep a track of all the websites browsed by the users. These agencies then analyze the content of these websites. If the online content is reckoned to carry profane or anti-governmental ideas, the agencies report the technical operators by providing a list of websites to be blocked (Goldsmith, 2006, p.93). Various terms have been blocked at different times. Some of the most frequently blocked terms include ‘human rights’, ‘pornography’, ‘BBC’, ‘Oral sex’ and ‘Taiwan Independence’ etc (G, 2006, p.96). The work of Cisco in this regard is to divert the internet users from all the listed content by the help of its sophisticated routers (Cohn, 2007, p.31). As every new day brings a number of new websites, the technical and policing services keep a regular tab on the activities going online on daily basis. 2. Self-Censorship by Different Networks As mentioned earlier that various forces are involved in maintaining the internet control, China’s effective internet filtering policies are also implemented in a better fashion by the help of American companies. Although Cisco is an American company too but its work it confined to providing technical expertise to China. There are many other US based networks like Yahoo, Skype, AOL, Google and Microsoft that are providing the services of self censorship in China (ibid.). These companies while operating in China have blocked certain content to be browsed on their networks by the Chinese customers. For instance, Microsoft is also the provider of MSN spaces in China like all its other operating countries however the Chinese users cannot create a blog entry titled with words like ‘democracy’ and ‘freedom’. Similarly, these users get an error when such blog entries by other countries’ users are accessed. Yahoo is equally supportive for the China’s government in this regard (Goldsmith, 2006, p.95). In the early 2000s, Yahoo provided the information about a Chinese user who had been sending anti-governmental messages through Yahoo server. As a result, Wang was sentenced for ten years prison. The incident resulted in lawsuit filed by two pro-democracy Chinese journalists against the US based company. Similar is the case with Google that has self-censored certain terms from its system for its Chinese customers (Cohn, 2007, p.31). 3. Supervisory Bodies: Keeping in mind the expanse of online content to be monitored, the government of China has set up various supervisory bodies to keep a tab on the online activities. Some of the major supervisory bodies are: a. The Internet Propaganda Administrative Bureau and the Centre for the Study of Public Opinion: The work of this body is to supervise the information available online and online conversations. The bureau later reports the nature of information being circulated over the internet. b. The Internet Bureau and Bureau of Information and Public Opinion: Although these bureaus are also designed to collect online information, the nature of information to be monitored by these bodies is confined to important events and the topics pertaining to the news (Tao, 2007, pp. 3-5). c. The Ministry of Information Industry: The Ministry of Information Industry is not directly associated with the internet censorship in China. However, one of its many jobs is to supervise the information service market particularly in terms of licensing and quality thereby making it an important body in the over all process of internet filtering in the state (Chinese Government Official Web Portal). d. The Ministry of Public Security’s Computer Monitoring and Supervision Bureau: This Ministry is particularly concerned with the supervising of online content pertaining to pornography, sex and other such ethical issues (Tao, 2007, pp. 3-5). e. The Ministry of State Security: As clear from the term, the job of this ministry is to look after the online activities that have a potential of posing a threat to the state’s security. The role of this ministry is strengthened by its power to classify the violators into various categories and penalize them accordingly (Lewis, 2006, p.4). 4. State Owned Infrastructures Another strategy used by the government of China for internet censoring is the prohibition of privately owned infrastructures. Since the internet infrastructures that make possible the availability of internet in China are owned by the state, it is relatively easier to keep a check of all the activities going on in the cyber world (ibid. p.2). 5. Limiting the Internet Access Opportunities As the country advanced in internet technology, an increasing number of people started to use the internet, many internet cafés came into existence to provide an affordable way to the internet users who only had to rent some time at the cafés and use the internet without owning a personal computer. After the presidential selection of Hu Jintao, many internet cafés throughout the country were closed down to limit the internet access from the majority (Cohn, 2007, p.33). Mechanisms of Internet Censorship in China Realistically the exercise of power in a network society like the internet is not possible to imagine. Although an absolute control on such networks is not possible, there is still a possibility of domination of a particular force. In this regard, this domination or control depends on ‘Programming’ and ‘Switching’. In the former mechanism the social network is either programmed or reprogrammed to fulfil the desired goals of the authorities. In the latter process, the dominating powers collaborate with those social networks that assure their co-operation in maintaining the dominator’s control (Castells, 2004, p.32). In case of China, the role of dominating body is played by the government which is employing both the ways of programming and switching for internet filtering. As far as the programming mechanism is concerned, China has been programming internet networks in a way that a certain number of websites are blocked by the programmers. These sites are not accessible to the users. There is also an aspect of linguistic barring. By the year 2002, there were only about 20% of the online materials available to the Chinese which were in language other than the Chinese. Although the situation has altered, there is no complete freedom available to the users and still not all the online content in foreign languages is available to the users. Another dimension of the internet censorship in China relates to the government regulatory environment concerning the internet in China where the internet sector has deep connections with the government thereby helping the government in practically implementing its censorship policies (Chase & Mulvenon, 2002, p.7). The Nature of Internet Censorship in China While many debate against the excessive filtering practices of China to control the online activities, the concerned authorities in China are of the view that China’s internet filtering is not as stringent as it has become notorious for. They claim that the government does not block every political viewpoint available online. Instead, only the direct anti-governmental content is immediately filtered off (Goldsmith, 2006, p.89). According to a report issued by International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development, the principle behind China’s current censorship of internet is that of “guarded openness”. This means that at one hand, the state offers openness to its citizen to use internet as a source of information and progress. At the other hand this open opportunity is guarded against powers that might debilitate the country in any way (p.1). The openness of China is clear by the fact that unlike North Korean government that has aimed to restrict the use of internet to general public, Chinese government is encouraging the people to use internet by continuously lowering down the prices of computers and internet connections (USA Today, 2008, p.1a).Although not every content available online is blocked by the government, the number of issues to be blocked is relatively higher as compared to the other states. Goldsmith calls the censorship techniques of China very subtle in a sense that goodwill is maintained by the government. This is because all the blocked sites when accessed give a technical error message thereby leaving the user in doubt whether the website is actually out of work or blocked by the government’s firewall (ibid. p.94). Perspectives on Internet Filtering in China Castells in his book ‘Informationalism, Networks and the Network Society: A Theoretical Blueprint’ provides two ways of looking at governmental control of the internet within the state which hold their verity for the case of China too. The first perspective sees internet censorship as seizing or enforcing power whereas the other viewpoint reckons the same activity as a way of resisting the challenging power of the internet in order to protect the nation’s values and interests (Castells,2004, p.34). It is on the basis of these perspectives that the analysts are divided into pro and anti censorship groups. Cases of Internet Censorship Policies in China Since the emergence of the internet in China, there have been several cases which show the stringent policies of the government in not only monitoring and controlling the web content but also in penalizing the individuals who voice their opinions online against the government. Wang, a fifteen years old Chinese boy was yet another victim of China’s closed doors to democracy. With unjust allegations against him, the boy was arrested in Henan where he went through an unspecified punishment. Liu Di’s case was somewhat similar. After the anti-governmental ideas were noticed by the higher authorities on her websire, the girl was arrested. Later, the supporters of Li who had signed a petition online were also arrested (Goldsmith, 2006, p.88). Accessing the Inaccessible Irrespective of the fact that the government of China has established very sophisticated mechanisms to block the objectionable content, the growing computer and IT literacy among Chinese people has led to the ways of penetrating into the banned sites and accessing the inaccessible content. Xia is yet another example of such smart internet users of China. In the year 2002, with the establishment of a company named Dynamic Internet Technology, Xia launched a virtual war against the government’s censorship over the internet. The company created software called Freegate that detected the loopholes in the state created firewall and provided access to the censored sites by penetrating into the firewall. Apart from Freegate, Xia’s email messages to random users also provided the links that helped in accessing the blocked content. Other than the above mentioned techniques to access the information, the Chinese have also been using smart strategies to spread their ideas without being blocked by the filtering systems. One such way is by making the banned terms in non-standardized characters to make them undetectable by the filtering systems. For instance, if a Chinese user wants to create a blog on Democracy, he can write the term in undetectable way like Democr@cy and D-e-m-o-c-r-a-c-y etc (USA Today, 2008, p.1a). Conclusion Having enacted more than sixty internet regulations, the government of China is still unable to effectively monitor its internet population. Although the government has been employing the services of foreign technical and network giants since 1998, it has still been incapable of monitoring the online activities as proved by the increasing number of cyber restrictions implemented every year. This increasing number shows the insufficiency of the previous policies to fully attain the governmental aims (Cohn, 2007, p.31). The inability of Chinese government is partly because of the uncontrollable nature of internet like any social networks and partly because of the increasing number of internet users every year making the internet population massive to be controlled. References Callick,R. (2007, March 12). China’s Great Firewall. The Australian, p. 10. Retrieved October 7, 2008, from http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21362873-28737,00.html. 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