OpenNet Initiative Report on Internet Filtering in China 2004-05
OpenNet Initiative, a joint effort by University of Toronto, Harvard University and Cambridge University has released today a report on Internet Filtering in China in 2004-2005.
The report was released earlier today at a U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission's public hearing on China's State Control Mechanisms and Methods.
John Palfrey, Executive Director at Berkman Center for Internet & Society, Harvard Law School, wrote in a testimony that:"China’s filtering has advanced far beyond the comparatively limited filtering regimes in place in other states and, since we last tested China’s filtering systems in 2002, its approach has become markedly more sophisticated and successful."
China’s Internet filtering and censorship efforts have global ramifications, and should be of concern to Internet users worldwide," Palfrey added.
A very good question from the testimony:
The report was released earlier today at a U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission's public hearing on China's State Control Mechanisms and Methods.
John Palfrey, Executive Director at Berkman Center for Internet & Society, Harvard Law School, wrote in a testimony that:"China’s filtering has advanced far beyond the comparatively limited filtering regimes in place in other states and, since we last tested China’s filtering systems in 2002, its approach has become markedly more sophisticated and successful."
"The success of China’s filtering efforts lies in its reliance on multiple, overlapping filtering methods and systems. China’s filtering takes place at multiple levels, including at access points such as cybercafés, at intermediaries such as Internet Service Providers (ISPs), and at the national Internet backbone network.
China employs a mixture of soft and hard controls to limit the Internet material its citizens can access. Hard controls include technical measures such as keyword and source blocking. Soft controls include both extra-legal measures, such as informal pressure on users and content providers, and formal legal measures, such as broad and often arbitrary-seeming legal restrictions combined with zealous enforcement. China’s legal enforcement measures concentrate primarily on the creation and dissemination of content rather than its retrieval. Thus, these soft controls create a “chilling effect” that deters users, and intermediaries such as ISPs, from posting content on sensitive or prohibited topics."
China’s Internet filtering and censorship efforts have global ramifications, and should be of concern to Internet users worldwide," Palfrey added.
"Most of all, the ramifications of this censorship regime should be of concern to anyone who believes in participatory democracy – online and offline. China’s growing Internet population represents nearly half of all Internet users worldwide, and will soon overtake the United States as the single largest national group of Internet users. How the Chinese government restricts its citizens’ online interactions is significantly altering the global Internet landscape. China’s advanced filtering regime presents a model for other countries with similar interests in censorship to follow. China acts as a regional Internet access provider for states such as Vietnam, North Korea, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan. Through this important role as a gatekeeper between citizens in other states and the Internet, China may be able to share or export its content controls to neighboring states and their local Internet service providers. There is no reason to believe that the Chinese government will refrain from exporting its filtering technology to other states, if the opportunity arises."
A very good question from the testimony:
"One of the most intriguing questions, as yet unanswered, is whether emerging new technologies will make Internet filtering harder or easier over time. A new, emerging crop of more dynamic technologies – centered on the fast-growing XML variant RSS, which is a means of syndication and aggregation of online content, such as weblog entries and news stories from major media outlets – should make filtering yet harder for the Chinese and for other countries that seek to control the global flow of information. The cat-and-mouse game will continue."
