China’s “Internet police” tighten the crackdown

More of the same, as China’s rulers seek to stem the tide of materials that could lead to “social instability.”

China’s Internet police stepped up an ongoing campaign to control the web by issuing new measures to crackdown on “unhealthy” Internet content, state press said.

A circular issued by the Ministry of Information Industry has unveiled a series of measures to regulate content, crackdown on unregistered Internet bars and step up controls over online bulletin boards and chatrooms, Xinhua news agency said.

The measures will also ensure that Internet information providers refrain from spreading “information threatening national security or social stability,” or containing superstitious or erotic content, it said….

Chinese websites, Internet service providers (ISPs) and other Internet-related organizations were also urged to sign an agreement setting up principles of “self-discipline” and self-policing of the Internet, Xinhua said in a separate article.

Censorship, fear and repression, the golden rule for the CCP to hold onto power, even in the age of great reform. Sorry if that sounds polemical, but it’s just the way it is.

The Discussion: 2 Comments

Same old, same old. Nothing new.

June 20, 2004 @ 11:44 am | Comment

Well, you’re right — it is the “same old.” But if we don’t keep remembering that this is indeed the standard fare in China, it becomes all too easy to adopt a distorted view of what’s actually going on there. Lots of people think it’s now as free over there as it is in Los Angeles. Not so. If we’re silent about it, we’re complicit in the cover-up.

June 20, 2004 @ 12:17 pm | Comment

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