China Sends Mixed Signals On Censorship
from the make-up-your-mind dept
Last week we wrote about China’s worrying new censorship approach, which threatens up to three years in prison for those spreading “false information” if their posts are viewed 5000 times, or forwarded 500 times. Improbable though that law is in its exactitude, it seems it has already been applied:
Yesterday afternoon, police in Zhangjiachuan County, Gansu province, detained a local teenager for “disrupting social order” when the teen’s post on microblogging service Sina Weibo about a suspicious death went viral, reports the Beijing Times. The teen’s remarks were the sorts of Weibo “tweets” that have provided a crucial source of information for others as they report on stories that the media, which are state-controlled, are late or unwilling to report on.
In other words, exactly the inconvenient information that the Chinese authorities want to stamp out with this new law. Although the 16-year-old involved has now been released after a week’s detention, the article on Quartz quoted above notes that the approach has also been used against others for even trivial mistakes:
police forces around China have already used the law to charge people for simply getting the death toll of a car accident slightly off.
What makes this crack-down strange is that it contrasts with a move to open things up in other ways, as the South China Morning Post reports:
Beijing has made the landmark decision to lift a ban on internet access within the Shanghai Free-trade Zone to foreign websites considered politically sensitive by the Chinese government, including Facebook, Twitter and newspaper website The New York Times.
Here’s the logic behind that move:
“In order to welcome foreign companies to invest and to let foreigners live and work happily in the free-trade zone, we must think about how we can make them feel like at home. If they can’t get onto Facebook or read The New York Times, they may naturally wonder how special the free-trade zone is compared with the rest of China,” said one of the government sources who declined to be named due to the highly political sensitive nature of the matter.
The Chinese authorities seem to think that allowing a little online freedom is a gamble worth taking on economic grounds if it’s kept within “special” zones, but doing so only underlines the lack of it everywhere else in China.
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Filed Under: censorship, china, free speech, free trade zone
Comments on “China Sends Mixed Signals On Censorship”
Naturally
The Chinese seem to have discovered Free Speech Zones.
Re: Naturally
Beat me to it.
Meanwhile, the government here in the US wants to transform this entire country into a Constitution-free zone.
Re: Naturally
US Colleges are pioneers in it. China is late to the party =/
Except of course the Chinese were completely closed before and the US didn’t have any limits to free speech. They just reached the same middle ground from different positions 😉
Re: Re: Naturally
Actually, the Democrats introduced the concept at the 1988 DNC in Atlanta.
When reading this, given all the other recent info on what the NSA does, especially with turning over evidence and then requesting their aid not be used as evidence, just how far are we behind China in doing this very same thing?
This story makes me think of the RIAA/MPAA (MAFIAA). Everyone hates the MAFIAA, because they go after poor folks who use the internet and attempt to massively fine them or throw them in prison.
This new “maximum retweet” policy, seems like it might backfire on the Chinese Government. Causing Chinese citizens to detest their government for aggressively seeking to punish internet users.
Just like the MAFIAA’s internet policy.
Re: @ "This story makes me think of the RIAA/MPAA (MAFIAA)."
@ Anonymous Coward, Oct 2nd, 2013 @ 4:57pm
This story makes me think of the RIAA/MPAA (MAFIAA). Everyone hates the MAFIAA, because they go after poor folks who use the internet and attempt to massively fine them or throw them in prison.
Umm, okay… This piece makes me think of Google because it’s about spying and tracking! That’s exactly what Google CAN be used for. — I WISH that you were mocking me for now and then jamming Google in from, er, out of the blue. But at least I’m reasonable in seeing similarities between NSA and Google SPYING, ’cause they’re both SPY AGENCIES. — But YOUR connection between Chinese tyranny for telling the truth and RIAA/MPAA rightly objecting to their products being stolen is simply loony obsession. No wonder you’re AC.
Money talks
Or in this case, it allows one to talk, without the threat of fines and jail time for ‘unapproved’ messages.
HELD FOR CENSORSHIP
is it going to 5 days again Masnick until you “release from CENSORSHIP” any of my posts.
At least be honest about it Mick !!!!!!
You abuse censorship, and you hate free speech and open debate.
You must be REALLY SCARED OF ME !!! If my comments have you SO WORRIED, that you are willing to give up what you ‘claim’ to stand for to CENSOR HE !!!!…
I am sure you readers are proud of your two faced attitude.. and I am sure you really don’t mind the drop in income you have taken for it..
But it must be so worth it, you’ve fool the 10 or 15 people that believe everything you say..
You would think after 5 or more years running TD you would have more supporters than that.. 2 or 3 new ‘recruits’ a year !!!!!!
I know,, HELD FOR CENSORSHIP, for at LEAST 5 days,, probably more..
CENSORSHIP MIKE, DESTROYER OF FREE SPEECH.
we’re all very impressed with your massive display of the ABUSE OF what little POWER you have.
Even a small amount of power and Masnick cant handle it!!!!!
Masnick sends mixed signals
ON CENSORSHIP and FREE SPEECH, Masnick does one thing, that is ABUSE CENSORSHIP.
Masnick this makes you NO BETTER than Chine, the US Government, NSA, PRENDA.
But as long as you continue to be two faced, and to abuse CENSORSHIP, no one will ever take you as a serious person with a ‘message’.
You’re message is clear, lie and make as much money as possible, abuse power for your own gains…
Somehow you feel that showing everyone how YOU abuse CENSORSHIP will make you look better in their eyes. All 10 of them.
So If I Were To Tweet That I Was Jailed Over This Tweet...
…would they jail me over this tweet or not?
seems to me to be a double standard. use when it suits, ignore when it suits.
now where has something similar going on??