Freedom on the Internet
July 12th 2007 16:31
How long will the Internet remain a place where freedom abounds?
In the seaside resort of Xiamen, in China, people posting on blogs, websites and chat sites will soon have to sign their full names and provide information from their identity cards. This has come about because of significant opposition to a local chemicals plant by thousands of
demonstrators who were mobilized by mobile phone text messages and an internet-based campaign.
The new law goes by the absurd name of The Measures for Management and Disposition of Harmful and Unhealthy Information on the Internet, and its instigator, a certain Tian Feng, the vice-director of the Xiamen Bureau of Industry and Commerce, has boasted that the prosperous city of Xiamen is the first in the whole of China to do this.
As a result of the law, anonymous comments will be banned on the Internet, moderators of political noticeboards will be required to use their real names, and messages will be vetted before they are posted. In the light of the overwhelming technological rebellion that took place in regard to the chemicals plant, however, it seems likely that the people of Xiamen may well be able to gain the upper edge on the new law. How many people will it take to vet messages? The speed of the Internet is beyond the capability of most humans, and unless special software is applied, it seems unlikely that Mr Feng’s approach will be effective.
Internet censorship is already prevalent in China where the Government employs an elaborate system of filters along with tens of thousands of ‘narks’ to survey the people who use the Net. But will they be able to keep up after this outbreak in Xiamen? Already many of the enforcements are not sustainable, particularly outside the major cities.
And one blogger who posted real-time footage of the protest over the chemicals plant has written, ‘The awakening of public power can perform a key influential function in environmental protection. That small step for Xiamen’s citizens should have become a giant leap for the progress of environmental protection in China. Unfortunately, some local Xiamen officials perhaps did not see this as an honour, and subconsciously felt that they had lost face.’
In the seaside resort of Xiamen, in China, people posting on blogs, websites and chat sites will soon have to sign their full names and provide information from their identity cards. This has come about because of significant opposition to a local chemicals plant by thousands of
The new law goes by the absurd name of The Measures for Management and Disposition of Harmful and Unhealthy Information on the Internet, and its instigator, a certain Tian Feng, the vice-director of the Xiamen Bureau of Industry and Commerce, has boasted that the prosperous city of Xiamen is the first in the whole of China to do this.
As a result of the law, anonymous comments will be banned on the Internet, moderators of political noticeboards will be required to use their real names, and messages will be vetted before they are posted. In the light of the overwhelming technological rebellion that took place in regard to the chemicals plant, however, it seems likely that the people of Xiamen may well be able to gain the upper edge on the new law. How many people will it take to vet messages? The speed of the Internet is beyond the capability of most humans, and unless special software is applied, it seems unlikely that Mr Feng’s approach will be effective.
Internet censorship is already prevalent in China where the Government employs an elaborate system of filters along with tens of thousands of ‘narks’ to survey the people who use the Net. But will they be able to keep up after this outbreak in Xiamen? Already many of the enforcements are not sustainable, particularly outside the major cities.
And one blogger who posted real-time footage of the protest over the chemicals plant has written, ‘The awakening of public power can perform a key influential function in environmental protection. That small step for Xiamen’s citizens should have become a giant leap for the progress of environmental protection in China. Unfortunately, some local Xiamen officials perhaps did not see this as an honour, and subconsciously felt that they had lost face.’
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