Researchers Put Numbers On China's Microblog Censorship 58
eldavojohn writes "One of China's main microblogging services used by 30% of all Chinese internet users is called Sina Weibo (weibo is the Chinese word for 'microblog') and something that is quite different from the West's twitter is, of course, the enforced censorship. Researchers at Rice University in Houston have estimated numbers for how censorship works and identifies the 'velocity of censorship' in China's microblogging censorship. Most of the posts are marked as 'permission denied' between the five minute and ten minute marks after posting. Their research shows that 'If an average censor can scan around 50 posts a minute, that would require some 1400 censors at any instant to handle the 70,000 posts pouring in. And if they work 8 hour shifts, that's a total of 4200 censors on the payroll each day.' The research indicates you would need a small army to meet stringent censorship policies when servicing China and to avoid being shutdown like Fanfou (another weibo). Keep in mind that this is not simply identifying keywords and blocking the post based on those words. The researchers noted that a phrase like 'Secretary of the Political and Legislative Committee' will result in you being unable to submit your post to Sina Weibo. So the research examines the speed of ex post facto censorship which presumably requires an employee or perhaps government employee to identify 'non-harmonious' posts based on their intrinsic content."
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This. I've seen the moderation triggers implemented in a Spanish-speaking forum but you could work around it with misspellings and leetspeak. I'm not familiar with Chinese but there may be less ways to put a concept in ideograms furtively, perhaps with homophones, and those can be covered too.
Maybe with pictures, Instagram-like?
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And each message will be read by (at most) one person. Not a terribly efficient way to spread ideas.
This quote seems appropriate. (Score:5, Insightful)
Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. --CS Lewis
This seems appropriate to the situation, as a good many in that culture genuinely believe that the censorship performed is not only necessary, but beneficial to their society.
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a good many in that culture genuinely believe that the censorship performed is not only necessary, but beneficial to their society.
It really is a shame that the citizens of a country should approve of their govt. If only we only we cold liberate them and make them a democracy. Freedom is the only way!
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How does this seem appropriate? Chinese oppression is pretty clearly aimed at perpetuating the party rule and guaranteeing their members cushy jobs and a steady income.
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You mean like the Chinese Civil War [wikipedia.org]? Funny I can't seem to find any records of an armistice. It must still be going on.
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Chinese oppression is pretty clearly aimed at perpetuating the party rule and guaranteeing their members cushy jobs and a steady income.
Ummm... a national economic growth rate of 7.5% p.a. under conditions of global economic crisis... that's a lot if steady income, I wonder what they are doing with it?
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If you're a typical slashdotter 'fascism' is when Mum and Dad used to tell you to clean your room. If some party describing itself as Communist censors the internet and ships people off to re-education camps because they complained about corruption, re-education camps and so on that is 'appropriate'.
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I far prefer the honesty of Chinese censorship to the dishonesty of US "freedom of speech"
Great doublethink there. I wonder what "prefer" means in this context?
The First Amendment is little more than the right to waste your time whining and being ignored so that you don't engage in effective action instead.
The "honesty" of the Chinese government goes beyond just suppressing speech. They suppress "effective action" as well.
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The effect is the same
No, it isn't. Even if the US system completely blocks your speech from being heard (which it doesn't BTW, as you can read here on Slashdot, which is yet another piece of US media), that's a vast distance from censoring public speech. Even if no one is listening, you don't have to modify your behavior. While under the Chinese system, say the wrong things for too long, even if no one is listening other than the censors, and you'll be punished.
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It's funny to hear that from famed theologian C.S. Lewis, when it's pretty much a perfectly on-target description for God.
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This seems appropriate to the situation, as a good many in that culture genuinely believe that the censorship performed is not only necessary, but beneficial to their society.
It also seems hilariously ironic coming from a Christian, given how often some variant of Christianity has been used as an excuse for oppression, and how a central tenet of the religion is its authority to declare what is "good", or godly.
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I know it's a bit of a kneejerk reaction whenever someone associated with Theology is mentioned, but given some other statements in the same text, I think that you might be a bit too quick to attack him since he explicitly calls out the behavior you mention. For example:
and here:
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I mean, he specifically calls it out as one of the very culprits of tyrrany, so I'm not sure how it's ironic at all.
It's ironic because at the time when he wrote it, Christianity was not a "has been", nor is it today. Religion is still a pox upon politics. As a member of an oppressive religion whose influence he discounted by placing it in the past as an evil, he was part of the problem.
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You are being unreasonable. You might as well state that anyone who doesnt simultaneously spit on the ground every time 'thing_you_hate' is mentioned is somehow condoning it.
It's especially unreasonable since you complain about him suggesting something concluded in the past when 'has been' is the present perfect tense. In otherwords, it is used when describing a period of time which starts sometime in the past and continues to the present, with no implication that such a thing has stopped unless explicitl
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It's especially unreasonable since you complain about him suggesting something concluded in the past when 'has been' is the present perfect tense.
What's unreasonable is your lack of reading comprehension. I said it was ironic, not that it was bad, or that I was upset about it.
Disharmonious comment (Score:1)
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It's probably a reference to this
http://english.sina.com/china/2012/1119/528202.html [sina.com]
Zhou Yongkang no longer holds the post as secretary of the Committee of Political and Legislative Affairs of the CPC Central Committee.
Meng Jianzhu, Minister of Chinese Ministry of Public Security, has been appointed as the new secretary, CPC Central Committee announced Monday afternoon
So You Yongkang got sacked but no one in China is allowed to speculate as to why.
According to Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhou_Yongkang [wikipedia.org]
In May 2012 the Financial Times reported that Zhou had relinquished the operational control of the party's Political and Legal Affairs Commission to Minister of Public Security Meng Jianzhu due to his support for former Chinese politician Bo Xilai, and had lost his right to select his successor when he retires from the Politburo Standing Committee in fall 2012. The New York Times later reported that Zhou's status remained unchanged.
Bo Xilai was a Maoist and a very dangerous person who got denounced by Wen Jiabao (who as someone put it "seems quite nice for a Chicom [taipeitimes.com]")
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bo_Xilai#Removal_from_posts [wikipedia.org]
On 15 March, Bo was dismissed as Chongqing party chief and its related municipal posts, while temporarily retaining a seat on the Politburo. Due to the potentially destructive effects Bo's dismissal would have on party unity, party elders were consulted on the matter. The decision was reportedly made at a meeting of the Politburo Standing Committee on 7 March, during which security tsar Zhou Yongkang cast a lone dissenting vote. On 14 March, Bo was reprimanded by Premier Wen Jiabao during the Premier's annual press conference. Wen called the achievements of Chongqing "significant," but the result of "multiple administrations," i.e., not just Bo himself. Wen also made numerous allusions to the damage wrought by the Cultural Revolution, an indirect rebuke of Bo's efforts to revive "red culture". Addressing high-level political changes by a Premier to an open public forum was unprecedented. Political observers believe that Wen's remarks and Bo's downfall represented a consensus within the central leadership that Bo not only needed to shoulder the responsibility for the Wang Lijun scandal, but also marked a significant victory for liberal reformers.
On 10 April, Bo was suspended from the party's Central Committee and its Politburo, pending investigation for "serious disciplinary violations." Bo's wife, Gu Kailai, was now a prime suspect in the inquiry into the death of British businessman Neil Heywood. The announcements, carrying criminal implications, likely marked the end of Bo's political career.
On 28 September, the party's Politburo adopted a decision to expel him from the CPC. He was accused of major disciplinary violations and corruption charges during his tenure in Dalian, the Ministry of Commerce and Chongqing, including the Gu Kailai case. He was also accused of having "improper sexual relationships with a number of women."
On 26 October, the Standing Committee of the 11th National People's Congress expelled him, removing his final party or state position and setting the stage for his trial.
On 4 November, Bo Xilai was formally kicked out of the Chinese Communist Party. There is speculation that he is going to be tried by the Supreme People's Court in original jurisdiction, the first time since the trial of the Gang of Four.
Ha ha. It's like when the Daleks took Davros off to "stand trial for crimes against the
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Were these acts of censorship instigated by decree of the US GOVERNMENT or a choice made by the COMPANY? We can be against both sources of censorship, but I think we can also understand the fundamental differences, and the fact that the one which is more pervasive and more broad in its coverage is more threatening to the individual.
Only one question remains. (Score:2)
How do you prefer your censorship?
Overt or covert?
And the same could be asked of surveillance.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/82701103/Analyst-Desktop-Binder-REDACTED [scribd.com]
Plomo o plata, I think journalism/blogs/social media are as censored in Russia, Europe and America as it is in China.
The tactics might differ but the strategy is consistent.
Re:Only one question remains. (Score:5, Insightful)
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Where in my post did I use the terms evil, overlord or scumbag? Your lack of reading comprehension in no way entitles you to using the paranoid moron dreaming idiot idiom, but I shall attempt to refrain stooping to your level.
Censorship and surveillance are tools. When used by our servants and representatives to enable and cover up secret police, secret laws, secret sentences, state-sponsored abductions, torture and assassinations I think we have every right to be concerned.
It is probably hard for you to co
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Irony...
"This Page Cannot Be Displayed
Based on XXXXX Internet use policies, access to application Scribd of type Social Networking has been blocked."
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slashdot does not delete comments. Click on the "Load all comments" button, and move the slider to -1... all the crap is still there.
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Not true. I have had several comments deleted and they did not exist after moving the slider either.
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Automation (Score:2)
"Keep in mind that this is not simply identifying keywords and blocking the post based on those words. The researchers noted that a phrase like 'Secretary of the Political and Legislative Committee' will result in you being unable to submit your post to Sina Weibo."
Yeah, because computers can find keywords, but throw in a couple spaces, and then it's impossible.
Seriously, there seems to be a great oversight among certain old-school folks that computers can do this kind of mass searching in support of oppres
By All Means Explain This Revolutionary Technology (Score:3)
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That's why it takes five to ten minutes?
It takes 5-10 minutes because the automatic scanner sorts into three categories:
1. Stuff that clearly violates the rules.
2. Stuff that may violate the rules.
3. Stuff that looks okay.
So anything in (1) gets banned by the computer. (2) and (3) get posted, but (2) is flagged for a human to look at. The human censor queue is a few minutes long, thus the delay. There is no need for a human to look at everything.
I have no first hand knowledge that it works this way, but it seems to me that this is the way a
Lenny Bruce (Score:3)
Lenny Bruce
“If you can't say "Fuck" you can't say, "Fuck the government.”
Difference between US and China (Score:3)
(Besides the obvious political ones.)
In the US, this would be viewed as something requiring A.I. research. In China, another 5,000 or even 10,000 people get an "iron rice-bowl."
Foxcon could handle this with their staff on break.
4200 Censors (Score:2)
Seems like a small number of new party employees when you have a population of 1.3 billion.
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Morons think Google has 'algorithms' that do the clever stuff, but Google's success in the search-engine business is down to legions of Human operators who constantly create 'semantic hints' from daily mined data flowing from the search terms people are using.
Are they headquartered in China?