Sunday, October 14, 2007

Chinese Internet Censorship Machine Revealed

Via itnews.com.au -

The Chinese government has instituted an elaborate system for Internet censorship that employs tens of thousands of censors and police responsible for maintaining control over the flow of information, a report released by international free press advocates showed..

Entitled "China: Journey To The Heart Of Internet Censorship," the report issued by Reporters Without Borders outlines the inner workings of a bureaucracy that effectively clamps down on dissent, quashes articles the communist government deems unsuitable for publication, and uses online companies to distribute its own propaganda.

The report, much of which is based on information provided by an unidentified Chinese technician who works for the government's Internet sector, was published Wednesday, five days before the start of the 17th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, the nation's biggest political event in five years.

The Chinese have embraced the Internet in a big way, creating a market second only to the United States. The phenomenal market growth has attracted an army of U.S. technology and online companies, many of which have partnered with Chinese businesses in order to navigate the country's political system.

As of July 1, about 12.3 percent of China's population, or 162 million people, used the Internet, according to the China Internet Network Information Centre. In addition, there are at least 1.3 million Web sites, and 19 percent of Chinese Internet users have their own blogs.

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