China's Web Surveillance System Employs More Than 2 Million 63
Reader dryriver recommends a BBC report on the immense scale of the web-monitoring system in place in China. An excerpt: "More than two million people in China are employed by the government to monitor web activity, state media say, providing a rare glimpse into how the state tries to control the internet. The Beijing News says the monitors, described as internet 'opinion analysts,' are on state and commercial payrolls. China's hundreds of millions of web users increasingly use microblogs to criticise the state or vent anger. Recent research suggested Chinese censors actively target social media. The report by the Beijing News said that these monitors were not required to delete postings. They are "strictly to gather and analyse public opinions on microblog sites and compile reports for decision-makers", it said. It also added details about how some of these monitors work. Tang Xiaotao has been working as a monitor for less than six months, the report says, without revealing where he works. 'He sits in front of a PC every day, and opening up an application, he types in key words which are specified by clients. He then monitors negative opinions related to the clients, and gathers (them) and compiles reports and sends them to the clients,' it says. The reports says the software used in the office is even more advanced and supported by thousands of servers. It also monitors websites outside China."
Re:Job creation (Score:2, Insightful)
The easiest way to create jobs is to hire everyone to spy on their neighbors.
Maybe we should NOT be outsourcing this (Score:4, Insightful)
I don't know; just sayin'
Re:Way to go, China (Score:4, Insightful)
Keep in mind that the number given for China is only the people that monitor web traffic. It doesn't include the secret police and their many informers. I doubt that overall China is less organized in that regard than East Germany was.
It is also worth noting that China has far more brutality in its past than East Germany. The People's Republic of China managed to kill about 65,000,000 [harvard.edu] of its own citizens. There are even instances of cannibalism as a demonstration or test of party loyalty - "eating the rich," so to speak.
East Germany's communist government is no longer in power. That same Chinese government is still in power, engages in massive espionage by spy and computer against many nations, is aiming nuclear missiles at the US, is building a fleet of aircraft carriers, claiming the territory of its neighbors, and many people say it will be the main power of the next century. Pleasant dreams.
Re:China transparency (Score:4, Insightful)
lol, they aren't doing this to be open and forthright. They are doing this to let the population know that they are monitoring everything they do on the internet. It's just a slick way to oppress dissent.