Chinese Internet Firms Punished For Permitting Spread Of Political Rumors 75
First time accepted submitter rover42 writes "Major Chinese sites Sina and Webo 'have been legally punished for permitting the spread of unfounded rumors. Specifically, the report cites unfounded rumors that were spreading like wildfire on Sina Weibo of an attempted coup d'etat happening in Beijing.' The source is the state-run Xinhua." Sadly for the people of China (even if they like it this way), this seems to be in line with the Chinese government's general attitude toward the Internet.
Re:What is "Webo"? (Score:4, Interesting)
Good luck monitoring all traffic on Tencent's networks.
As of almost three years ago, they showed upwards of 990 million registered users, with a peak concurrency of 6.13 million [tencent.com]. Somehow I think that number will have risen since, not fallen.
Re:Public opinion in china is an oxymoron. (Score:2, Interesting)
It depends a bit on how the question is asked, but I think 83% is pretty likely (and I live in China currently). The foreigners here (like me) do not like it, but they know what they miss, and they may have an interest in some of the censored content. For Chinese people, many are quite concerned about social stability, and think censoring is an excellent way of preventing trouble. And very important: Most never even noticed anything of interest was censored.
To them it is akin to asking: do you think criminals should be locked up on prisons. Apart from some nerds or university students/staff, nobody really cares.
There is something to say for the argument that the public opinion has been influenced by the countries government, but let me tell you"so is our opinion in the west.
For example, many Americans think it is perfectly OK to carry guns around. I think that is a rather strange (and even stupid) idea, but I can see why this is accepted in your country. I however do not conclude from that opinion that you have no real public opinion. You do believe in this right, even although your opinion on this is influenced (sometimes greatly so) by many external factors, such as your countries culture, history but also the media, various lobbying groups and also your countries political leaders.
Same arguments can be made for things like death penalty, war on terrorism, etc etc.
Having opinions without reference frame is rather hard to avoid anyway. So we all are somewhat biased.
Re:I love it when (Score:2, Interesting)
Following is the precise reason that I, an American, can cast judgement on the Chinese government:
"Both President Obama and House Speaker Boehner are doing a terrible job in their respective offices. Boehner actively pursues policy that will harm most Americans, and Obama signs bills that are harmful to the American people. Additionally, there is no current candidate for presidential office that will sincerely and genuinely defend the liberty of most American citizens."
In China, this statement (or any analogue of it -- in China, you've only got The Party) wouldn't last long. Let's see how long it lasts in the land of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness...