Chinese Internet Censorship Operation Revealed

Stony Stevenson passed on a link to an in-depth look at the Chinese government's massive censorship operation. Reporters Without Borders put together a report on the activities of the operation, with a primary focus on the censorship of internet access and participation. "Chinese supervisory bodies often use instant messaging and text messages sent via mobile phones to communicate quickly with commercial Web sites. The purpose is to tell them which articles or comments are not to be published, and which events or issues are taboo. The Beijing Internet Information Administrative Bureau holds weekly meetings with 19 of the leading Web sites based in the capital to evaluate the subjects that Internet users find most interesting that week."

A small preview

[kwabbles]

of the future of America.

cue the slashbots

[circletimessquare]

who say we can't criticize this because the west does bad thing X when it comes to privacy and freedom of expression even though bad thing X isn't anywhere remotely as bad as what the chinese are doing

look, my neighbor shot his dog, but i'm not going to criticize him, because i let my dog poop in the flower beds, and letting the dog poop in the flower beds is the beginning of an unstoppable slippery slope to murder and pedophilia and listening to cold play

pffffft

to every issue: abortion, freedom of expression, privacy, gun rights, etc., there are people who can think clearly on the issue, and then there are the raging fundamentalists

dear freedom of expression fundamentalists: where's my "troll" rating? k thx

Re:A small preview

[KudyardRipling]

Economic prosperity without political liberty is the wave of the future. People behave because it gives people things to lose such as cushy jobs, nice homes, SUV's, entertainment systems, retirement portfolia, boats, RV's, vacations, etc. These things are not in themselves harmful, but in conjunction with a political system that can so easily deprive persons such things, they tend to make people apathetic to things political.

...and the toolbox gets better and better

[syrinje]

Leaving aside the obvious questions of why this either a surprise, or even news, this highlights the unintended consequences of technological advance. Firewalls and content inspection technology owe their origin to defensive uses - and continuing improvements in these have been driven largely by the increase in sophistication of the attack/penetration/exploit methods used by the bad guys. The resulting state-of-the art sudenly turns out to be incredibly powerful, capable not only of applying fine grain control based on endpoints, applications and content, but frighteningly able to provide loads of information that can be used to identify the people behind the keyboards. The fruits of defensive protection ripened to be picked by big-brother type regimes across the world - some for protectionist regulatory purposes (some countries use these to block VoIp to the benefit of state-run telcos), many for paranoiac surveillance (need I say more), some to prevent information flow across boundaries (Chine, Burma, etc.) - in short, multifarious nefarious usees of a technology suite intended to protect! Someone should list all the companies that make and sell such equipment to repressive/exploitative regimes - that would be a whos who of the industry....:(

Re:A small preview

[megaditto]

I do not see anyone coming around stitching lips shut.

I do, all the time. Just one recent example: the people that hung a noose on the black prof's door are now looking at a felony and a long time in jail.

the belief that the internet can't be sensored

[Danathar]

I find it interesting that even though the common belief that the internet is immune to sensorship is accepted pretty much by the entire tech community that the chinese are going full steam ahead anyway.

Just goes to show you that there are people who believe THEY CAN do what others say can't be done.

What will happen to our cherished belief of the invulnerability of the internet to censorship IF the chinese actually succeed?

Just because you believe in something does mean it is actually true

Re:A small preview

[king-manic]

I do, all the time. Just one recent example: the people that hung a noose on the black prof's door are now looking at a felony and a long time in jail.

Thats not censorship, thats the criminal justice system working. Issuing death threats is a crime you know.

do you have principles?

[circletimessquare]

then you criticize the most egregious trangressors of those principles first and foremost

you do not criticize a molehill to the same extent you criticize a mountain

because, if you do, you have an unspoken principle you are not owning up to, that ranks more importantly in your mind than your so-called concern for freedom of expression and privacy: "i am an ethnocentric turd"

oh my god! i need to show my receipt when leaving walmart! man the cannons! cue the battle hymn of the republic! it's worse than nazi germany!

what, they have no freedom of the press AT ALL in china? well, that's ok, because as soon as you cross the ural mountains/ straights of bosporus/ rock of gibraltar/ rio grande/ pacific ocean, suddenly human rights don't matter as much to me

to those who criticize minor transgressions in the west to the same extent you criticize major trangressions elsewhere, you care less about your so called principles, and more about self-absorbed navel gazing. thereby, nullfiying much of your so-called principles

the only morally and intellectually defensible position on any point of view is global one. national ones are simply invalid. nationalism does not trump true global principles of human rights

or at least it shouldn't

in reality, it does, in plenty of dim ethnocentric minds in the west (and elsewhere)

Re:Revealed?

[justinlee37]

A more accurate headline would have been, "Details of Chinese Internet Censorship Revealed."