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China Censorship The Internet Technology

China Takes Action On Thousands Of Websites For 'Harmful', Obscene Content (reuters.com) 60

China has shut down or "dealt with" thousands of websites for sharing "harmful" erotic or obscene content since April, the state's office for combating pornography and illegal publications announced on Thursday. From a report on Reuters: The office said 2,500 websites were prosecuted or shut down and more than 3 million "harmful" posts were deleted in eight months up to December during a drive to "purify" the internet in China and protect youth, the official Xinhua news agency reported. The government has tightening its grip on Chinese cyberspace in recent months, in particular placing new restrictions on the fast-growing live-streaming industry. The state has a zero-tolerance approach to what it considers lewd, smutty or illegal content and has in past crackdowns removed tens of thousands of websites in a single year.
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China Takes Action On Thousands Of Websites For 'Harmful', Obscene Content

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  • Purity is such an impure word - it means repression, persecution and lack of liberty. It's been abused since time immemorial, the main tool in the ideological toolbox.
  • by tietokone-olmi ( 26595 ) on Thursday December 15, 2016 @01:10PM (#53491337)

    China doesn't have a first amendment, so it's not censorship. Even if it were, it's being enacted by the comms operators, which some will say makes it not matter since the first amdemnenenent only impacts the government.

    So there. Please to be removink your insultink title. China stronk laa.

    • by SeaFox ( 739806 )

      China doesn't have a first amendment, so it's not censorship.

      Nice try. [merriam-webster.com] Censorship is simply defined as the act by an official of regulating access or editing content that is deemed objectionable or sensitive. Whether content meets these criteria is based only on a judgement call, there is nothing in the definition that says it has to be legally based.

      Even if it were, it's being enacted by the comms operators, which some will say makes it not matter since the first amdemnenenent only impacts the government.

      Likewise, the "official" is simply the individual who is tasked with carrying out this action, anyone can be in this role, not just government agents. So that would make an employee of the provider just as much an "off

    • I had no idea censorship was defined by the first amendment.

    • China doesn't have a first amendment, so it's not censorship.

      This may seem like a bit of a fine distinction to you. It is censorship, but since China does not have the equivalent of the 1st Amendment to the US Constitution, Chinese nationals enjoy no constitutional protection from state, or indeed corporate, censorship.

      You will understand, of course, that since this is being done to protect the purity of the young, only those who for whatever perverse reasons want minors corrupted could possibly object.

      • >(...) only those who for whatever perverse reasons want minors corrupted could possibly object.

        What if I want minors corrupted, and also censorship? We shouldn't allow wholesome ideas to cross the eye-brain barrier after all.

    • by Maritz ( 1829006 )

      China doesn't have a first amendment, so it's not censorship.

      You don't know what the word 'censorship' means.

      Please to be removink your insultink title. China stronk laa.

      What accent is that supposed to be? Kinda weird to see a 'bad accent' in text form. You look like you've hit eastern europe there.

  • Chairman Canute's initiative, I assume?

  • China has an overpopulation problem. Why ever would they clamp down on pornography? It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

    • by AHuxley ( 892839 )
      re It makes absolutely no sense whatsoever..
      Western brands trying to sell into China are always happy to report users for short term market share.
      China wants its staff to be Party members, in the mil or doing great things for China and be seen to get top rankings vs other nations.
      Study, self improvement, supporting the Party is been side tracked and eroded by outside influences.
      Say a mil officer from China gets sent to the West to study and bring back another nations emerging academic concepts.
      They se
      • by rtb61 ( 674572 )

        Basically the censorship has nothing what so ever to do with porn and everything to do with politics. Nearly every country on the globe is trying to go down this exact censorship route. The camouflage of "we need to protect children from internet porn" when what they really mean is, we need to censor all non government approved internet political speech.

        The reality is, yes children do need to be protected from the adult internet and this can only be done by running a parrallel, encrypted and secured inter

    • Why ever would they clamp down on pornography?

      Here's my take on that: If you're a single adult, or two married single adults, you don't have as much to lose if you feel strongly enough about something to speak up or do something active about it. However if you have children, now you have innocent lives to protect who can't do anything to protect themselves. So now the government can, in one sense or another, hold them hostage, to force you to do what they want you to do. Consider also how little regard, apparently, the Chinese government has for human

  • Coming soon to a puritanical former democracy near you.
  • So now China is the 'bad guy' for blocking websites? The UK has been doing this for years and Australia is now following suit. Except it's not the Chinese government but the Hollywood Government that's behind it. More European countries now do the same thing. Soon you'll see first Canada, then the US do the same thing ("bla bla Internation standard bla bla").

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