The Dangers of Blogging in China
I am a couple of days behind, but there is an excellent article in the Asia Times about the blogging movement in China, and how it is being controlled by the government.
At our Exploring the Fusion Power of Public and Participatory Journalism conference on Aug. 3 in Toronto, Rebecca McKinnon, formerly of CNN, will help us take a look at the international blogging scene. You can still register, there are a few places open.
Here is an excerpt from the Asia Times article:
China has seen a significant rise in the number of web logs with an estimated 10,000 active bloggers and more than 600 web logs. Web logs are referred to in Chinese as bo ke, which is phonetically similar to the word “blog”, but also has a literal meaning of rich or abundant traveler, says Andrew Lih, assistant professor and director of technology at the Journalism and Media Studies Center at the University of Hong Kong.
While the Chinese government pushes carefully and not too fast for media reform, the Public Security Bureau maintains a crackdown on Internet content – from politics to pornography – as the government struggles to gain control over the new and increasingly popular medium. Beijing’s State Security Protection Bureau has also established an elaborate Internet police force, believed to number more than 30,000 people, blocking some foreign news sites and shutting down some domestic sites posting politically incorrect writings.
“Chinese bloggers have a lot of say in their future. It really depends on the extent to which government censors restrict what everyday users can do. Most users don’t care if the government blocks information about really controversial topics like Tiananmen Square or Taiwanese independence,” says Bobson Wong from Internet Communications in New York. “But there are situations where, if enough users speak out and protest, government officials will back down…”
