Internet Repression in China

Aggressive Censorship of Online Information is a Human Rights Issue

Dec 6, 2007 Jodie Martin

China remains one of the biggest repressors of information for its citizens.

Since the introduction of the internet in China in 1994, the Chinese government has tried to contain and control online information available to its citizens. China’s censorship of the internet has forced websites to be blocked, blogs shut down, and keywords censored in search engines resulting in no search results for certain topics.

Is Internet Censorship a Human Rights Issue?

Internet users in mainland China do not have freedom of access to receive and provide information and ideas.

Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that:

“Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”

In China, writers are denied freedom of expression and self-censorship is heavily encouraged to avoid trouble with various government bodies controlling information.

Chinese minority groups, religious groups and democracy groups are blocked and denied freedom of expression. An example is Falun Gong, a system of mind and body cultivation related to Buddhism, which the Chinese Communist Party banned in 1999 and declared all its practices illegal with crackdowns around mainland China. Internet users in mainland China cannot find any information relating to Falun Gong, and the discussion of Falun Gong is forbidden in blogs and online discussions and forums.

The government and internet service providers of the People’s Republic of China have blocked access to Wikipedia for users in mainland China four times since 2004. The current block on all Wikipedia sites began on 31 August 2007.

The Golden Shield Project

The internet and its associated super-computers allow the Chinese government to store and sort vast amounts of information. The Golden Shield Project is a censorship and surveillance project run by the Ministry of Public Security of the People’s Republic of China. The project limits what Chinese citizens can search for and find on the internet. This provides the government with a powerful tool to control its citizens and censor what it considers sensitive information. Internet companies who help the government in its censorship of the internet assist this system of internet repression in China.

In 2005, a reporter for Contemporary Business News, Shi Tao, was arrested for ‘leaking state secrets’ and given a 10-year jail sentence. In the previous year Tao had emailed a one page document about media restrictions in the lead up to the 15th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre to the Democracy Forum website, based in New York. Yahoo has confirmed it provided the Chinese government with details about Tao’s email usage, which ultimately helped to trace him.

Press Freedom and Human Rights

Press freedom NGO, Reporters San Frontières (RSF), reported on 28 November 2007 that the number of cyber-dissidents imprisoned in China currently stands at 49. The 2007 Press Freedom Index compiled by RSF puts China at 163rd place out of 169 countries. According to RSF, China is the “world champion” of internet censorship.

Human Rights Day, on 10 December 2007, is a great day to step up and get involved. Human Rights Day 2007 will mark a year-long commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

For more information:

Amnesty International

Reporters San Frontières

The copyright of the article Internet Repression in China in Activism is owned by Jodie Martin. Permission to republish Internet Repression in China in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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