China
China has devoted extensive resources
to building one of the largest and
most sophisticated filtering systems
in the world. As the Internet records
extraordinary growth in services as
well as numbers of users, the Chinese
government has undertaken to limit
access to any content that might potentially undermine the state’s control
or social stability by pursuing strict
supervision of domestic media, delegated liability for online content providers,
and, increasingly, a propaganda approach to online debate and discussion.
Background
The convening of the Seventeenth Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Congress in October 2007, at which China’s top echelon of government leaders chose their eventual
successors, was the beginning of a momentous year for China, and consequently for
domestic and international news media. On March 10, 2008, hundreds of monks in
the Tibetan autonomous region led a series of protests to demand loosening of restrictions on religious practices and even independence for Tibet. 1 Chinese authorities
RESULTS AT A GLANCE
Filtering
No Evidence
of Filtering
Suspected
Filtering
Selective
Filtering
Substantial
Filtering
Pervasive
Filtering
Political
Social
Conflict and security
Internet tools
Other Factors
Low
Medium
High
Not
Applicable
Transparency
Consistency
China has devoted extensive resources
to building one of the largest and
most sophisticated filtering systems
in the world. As the Internet records
extraordinary growth in services as
well as numbers of users, the Chinese
government has undertaken to limit
access to any content that might potentially undermine the state’s control
or social stability by pursuing strict
supervision of domestic media, delegated liability for online content providers,
and, increasingly, a propaganda approach to online debate and discussion.
Background
The convening of the Seventeenth Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Congress in October 2007, at which China’s top echelon of government leaders chose their eventual
successors, was the beginning of a momentous year for China, and consequently for
domestic and international news media. On March 10, 2008, hundreds of monks in
the Tibetan autonomous region led a series of protests to demand loosening of restrictions on religious practices and even independence for Tibet. 1 Chinese authorities
RESULTS AT A GLANCE
Filtering
No Evidence
of Filtering
Suspected
Filtering
Selective
Filtering
Substantial
Filtering
Pervasive
Filtering
Political
Social
Conflict and security
Internet tools
Other Factors
Low
Medium
High
Not
Applicable
Transparency
Consistency