The Internet in China
Magazine Publishers of America, (August 20050808)Abstract
Commuters entering Manhattan are treated to billboards advertising
the 2008 Beijing Olympics. China is taking no chances with this event,
advertising early and widely. At the same time Beijing is being transformed
and beautified, according to the official reports. The imported greenery
is already apparent. China seems ubiquitous, bidding for an American
oil company, buying up US Treasury notes, distancing its currency
from the dollar, and getting high marks for its global diplomacy.
No surprises here. This is what we would expect of a growing economic
and military power.
However, this global map, this projection is not always consistent
with the territory, the land mass itself. Censorship—and self-censorship
remains alive and well in China. For magazines, especially international
lifestyle brands, this is not really an issue. The content rarely
runs afoul of the government and when it does, institutional censorship
rights the ship. It is highly unlikely anytime soon that the Chinese
government will permit outside “ownership” of content. China simply
doesn’t want foreign voices commenting on internal matters, though
domestic business magazines such as Caijing frequently take the corrupt
to task.
While print in China gets a lot of attention, the Internet seems to
come under less outside scrutiny. Ironically, the Internet seems
much more threatening to Chinese authorities than magazines and receives
considerably more attention. The original fantasy, in relation to
China and other countries, was that the Internet’s architecture was
simply too sophisticated to be consistently censored. In turn the
Internet would be the sure-fire vehicle for democracy. To date this
fantasy has not been realized in China. Quite the contrary; by some
estimates China, with the help of some technology companies, has
developed an Internet and Internet protocols that give the government
the greatest control over the architecture.
The Open Net Initiative(ONI) studied Internet filtering in China in
2004-2005 and reported that “China’s Internet filtering is the most
sophisticated of its kind in the world. Compared to similar efforts
in other states, China’s filtering regime is pervasive, sophisticated,
and effective. It comprises multiple levels of legal regulation and
technical control. It involved numerous state agencies and thousands
of public and private personnel. It censors content transmitted through
multiple methods, including Web pages, Web logs, on-line discussion,
forums, university bulletin boards systems, and e-mail messages.”
And voluntary censorship is widely practiced.
In general the government will suppress any mention of a free Tibet,
the Falun Gong movement, criticism of China’s human rights record,
pro-democracy and pro-Western remarks, and calls for less censorship.
The state actively suppresses pornography, sex-related material,
and obscenity. Methods of circumventing Internet filters and content
restrictions are also censored, according to the ONI. Cybercafés,
vital for many Chinese Internet users, are required to track customer
Internet usage and to apply for government licenses A 1996 law requires
all ISP subscribers to register with their local police bureau.
IEEE Spectrum, which has done extensive research on the Internet and
technology in China, reports that China’s Internet police force has
between 30,000 and 50,000 officers and operates in 700 cities. Apparently
the Internet police are institutionalized, like traffic and fire
police. ONI notes that for years Amnesty International, Human Rights
Watch, and Reporters Without Borders have raised issues of corporate
responsibility on the part of companies that have provided special
routers and fireboxes that facilitate government censorship. Microsoft
and Cisco have responded that they sell the technology to China and
cannot be responsible for how it is used.
ONI concludes that “China makes a systematic, comprehensive, and frequently
successful effort to limit the ability of its citizens to access
and to post on-line content the state considers sensitive.” “Moreover,
the research we have conducted over several years demonstrates the
increasing sophistication of China’s filtering system.” “Considering
that China’s growing Internet population represents nearly half of
all Internet users worldwide, and will soon overtake the United States
as the single largest national group of Internet users, such extensive
censorship should be of concern to all Internet users worldwide.”
These developments are neither benign nor local. China has promoted
the principles of its Internet filtering system worldwide, including
to the World Summit of the Information Society. The ONI study states
that “While there can be legitimate debates about whether democratization
and liberalization are taking place in China’s economy, there is
no doubt that neither are taking place in China’s Internet environment
today.” Spectrum reporter Steven Cherry writes that “China’s experiment
in cyberspace censorship is about to take a dramatic turn. A massive
upgrade to the country’s Internet will soon give China a robust,
state-of-the-art infrastructure easily on par with any in the developed
world. China’s Telecom Corp., in Beijing is investing $100 million
in what it calls the ChinaNet Next Carrying Network or CN2.
“The former national telephone monopoly is snapping up new network
routers from four of the largest telecommunications companies in
the world: Cisco Systems and Juniper Networks of the United States;
the French giant Alcatel; and Huawei Technologies. During the next
12 months the routers—the vertebrae of an Internet backbone—are to
be installed in 200 cities throughout China’s 31 provinces, autonomous
regions and municipalities.” The fear is, if censorship technology
flourishes in China, it will be easier and cheaper for it to take
root elsewhere. As Cherry notes censorship is becoming more a matter
of politics than technology. The Internet is a dynamic system with
an endless supply of players and hackers who will likely find ways
around censorship. That, at least, is the hope. A lot of Chinese
are counting on this.
Companies such as Google and Yahoo have acknowledged yielding to China’s
demands to suppress certain URLs and search words. Cisco has repeatedly
denied it developed and sold equipment designed to help China with
censorship. So eager are companies to do business in China that censorship
issues seem somewhat academic and not their responsibility. The New
York Times recently reported that the “Chinese government has released
a long list of new regulations limiting foreign investment in everything
from book publishing to movie production.” No one really knows whether
this signals a fundamental change or is just another example of the
government tightening the screws.
By way of interesting counterpoint Baidu.com, a Chinese language portal
that hopes to rival Google, received an enthusiastic reception in
its Nasdaq debut. The introductory share price tripled in value to
$90.35 at close. Baidu was shut down by the Chinese government in
2002 for publishing socially harmful content. Such censorship poses
the biggest risk to Baidu’s success, though major investors such
as Google seem willing to take that chance.
China is very much the center of international media interest. Many
international organizations, including FIPP, will be holding events
in China in the next few years. Presumably there will be some discussion
of the good work done by ONI, IEEE Spectrum and others. One question
comes to mind: what are the consequences for open democratic societies
when such a large, powerful, highly-censored and well-funded parallel
universe exists next door?
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May08