Please read Section I (Summary), Section II (How
Censorship
Works in China: A Brief Overview), and
Section V (1 & 2) of the Human Rights Watch article ìRace to the Bottomî: Corporate
Complicity in Chinese Internet Censorship, http://www.hrw.org/reports/2006/china0806/.
This is Article 19 of
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights: (China
signed this covenant in 1998, but has not ratified it to
date. Think about this as you read these
articles.)
1. Everyone
shall have the right to
hold opinions without interference.
2. Everyone
shall have the right to
freedom of expression; this right
shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas
of all
kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print,
in the
form of art, or through any other media
of his choice.
3. The
exercise of the rights
provided for in paragraph 2 of this article carries with it special
duties and
responsibilities. It may therefore be subject to certain restrictions,
but
these shall only be such as are provided by law and are necessary:
(a) For
respect of the rights or
reputations of others;
(b) For the protection of national security or of public order (ordre public), or of public health or morals.
Please
view this
short video:
1)
Here
is a video on YouTube that shows the difference between the censored
internet
in China and uncensored internet and the current problems as described
by
Reporters Without Borders: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quaZi5sckwE. Itís really only the first 5 minutes. What do you think about the censored search
results? What about China selling this
technology to dictators?
Current Issues:
1) Corporate Complicity - http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/09/18/MNGDUEPNLA1.DTL&type=tech. Do you think these corporations are violating human rights? What do you think about Yahoo providing user information to the Chinese government? What are some solutions?
2) Censorship during the Olympics: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/31/sports/olympics/31china.html?partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=all. China had promised unrestricted access to the internet for foreign journalists, but then did not follow through.
3) No Anonymity - http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article4958778.ece. China is requiring cameras in internet cafes to photograph web users. What do you think about that?
Chinese like
censorship?
ìAccording to
findings from the fourth and most recent of a series of surveys about
internet
use in China from 2000 to 2007, over 80% of
respondents say they think the internet should be managed or
controlled, and in
2007, almost 85% say they think the government should be responsible
for doing
it.î You donít have to read this, but the
quote can be found here: http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_China_Internet_2008.pdf.
Playing devilís advocate, why shouldnít China censor the internet? The Chinese people think that there is too
much inappropriate material out there.
Could it actually be a good thing?
Proposed Global
Online Freedom Act ñ http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-275&tab=summary
What concerns about the Act are discussed in these articles?
1.
http://www.cdt.org/international/censorship/20080505gofa.pdf
If you like this topic, feel free to browse http://www.cecc.gov/. You will find some interesting news articles about internet censorship, but we wonít cover them in class.