Cyber-ocracy vs. Cyber-tarianism: The Chinese Internet

Cyber-ocracy vs.

Cyber-tarianism: What does the Internet mean for China?

Rebecca MacKinnon

Open Society Fellow Assistant Professor, Journalism & Media Studies Ctr.,

University of Hong Konge-mail: rebecca.mackinnon@gmail.com

blog: http://rconversation.blogs.com

Cultural loss of control: “Back dorm boys”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2HOD-nrOY8

2 layers of Chinese Internet censorship

2 layers of Chinese Internet censorship

• “Outside the great firewall”

2 layers of Chinese Internet censorship

• “Outside the great firewall” • Filtering of websites outside of China

2 layers of Chinese Internet censorship

• “Outside the great firewall” • Filtering of websites outside of China

• “Inside the great firewall”

2 layers of Chinese Internet censorship

• “Outside the great firewall” • Filtering of websites outside of China

• “Inside the great firewall”• Deletion of content on domestic

commercial websites

2 layers of Chinese Internet censorship

• “Outside the great firewall” • Filtering of websites outside of China

• “Inside the great firewall”• Deletion of content on domestic

commercial websites

• Takedown of domestically hosted websites

2 layers of Chinese Internet censorship

• “Outside the great firewall” • Filtering of websites outside of China

• “Inside the great firewall”• Deletion of content on domestic

commercial websites

• Takedown of domestically hosted websites

• Shut-down of data centers

All websites are physically hosted on a computer server in some countryʼs jurisdiction

Neopolitan and CityNAP data center in San Antonio, Texas. Photo by Robert Scoble, Creative Commons-BY on Flickr at: http://flickr.com/photos/scobleizer/2340202215/

The “Great Firewall” in action

Image search for “Tiananmen massacre”

Image search for “Tiananmen massacre”

Image search for “Tiananmen massacre”

Tianya blog service: Blog post about

“Tiananmen Mothers”

Censorship by Chinese blog-hosting companies

Your post “Tiananmen mothers organization publishes a website” has been successfully submitted! Because it

contains sensitive words, please wait for the community editors to approve it. Please donʼt re-post. Thank you.

CENSORED

Sina.com: Report about explosion in Xinjiang, published successfully, but...

Post is removed within 24 hours.Error message at same URL: “Sorry, the blog address

you visited does not exist.”

8 OUT OF 15 BLOG SERVICES TESTED CENSORED THIS CONTENT

Tests show blogs are censored by companies, amount and methods very decentralized

Company A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

0 27 54 81 108

1

3

9

13

17

19

20

22

24

26

27

31

34

44

60

Number of blog posts tested

Blog

ser

vice

s

NOTE: Company names have been replaced with letters due to concerns that companies who censor

less will be subject to repercussions.

For more about Chinese blog censorship see February issue

of First Monday at:http://firstmonday.org

15 blog hosts tested, 108 valid tests

Riot in Wengʼan county, Guizhou province, Julyʼ08Summer 2008 marked a shift in

official media strategy: let official news agencies cover

bad breaking stories to get the official version out quickly, then

censor unofficial versions.

“Pushups” were used by bloggers

to talk about Wengʼan incident

Above Sina.com website no longer exists

“Pushups” were used by bloggers

to talk about Wengʼan incident

Above Sina.com website no longer exists 3 images from: http://www.caobian.info/?p=3778

“Rivercrab”“Harmonious”

Political joke: “River crab wears three watches”

Anti-censorship Protest video: “song of the alpaca sheep”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3tPA_Z_MT0

CCTV news spoof

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYWW1k-dqhg

Feb. 9th CCTV fire: netizens react

Feb. 9th CCTV fire: netizens react

Feb. 9th CCTV fire: netizens react

Mental images of the Chinese Internet

“Iron curtain 2.0”

Photo courtesy “PC fish” on Wikipedia at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Point_Alpha_Ostseite.jpg (GNU Free Documentation License)

“Net nanny”

Photo courtesy “merwing” at http://flickr.com/photos/merwing/2569326878/ (Creative Commons BY-NC-ND license)

Hydro-electric management

Photos: LEFT: “noelinthebahamas” on Flickr at http://flickr.com/photos/noelinthebahamas/2417798169/ (Creative Commons BY-NC-ND)RIGHT: “yunmeng” on Flickr at http://flickr.com/photos/yunmeng/323886547/ (Creative Commons BY-NC-SA)

Cyber civil war 2.0

Where is all of this heading?

Cyber-tarianism?

• “Authoritarian deliberation” (Zheng Yongnian)

President Hu Jintao: “We pay great attention to suggestions and

advice from our netizens. We stress the idea of "putting people

first" and "governing for the people." With this in mind, we

need to listen to people's voices extensively and pool the people's wisdom when we take actions and

make decisions. The web is an important channel for us to

understand the concerns of the public and assemble the wisdom

of the public.”

http://video.sina.com.cn/news/c/v/2008-06-20/105617742.shtml

Cyber-nationalism

V.P. Xi Jinping in Mexico

Some foreigners who have eaten their fill have nothing better to do than point their

fingers at our affairs.

V.P. Xi Jinping in Mexico

Some foreigners who have eaten their fill have nothing better to do than point their

fingers at our affairs.

“It is only by way of this frankness that the confidence of a responsible big power can be better displayed; it is only by way of this frankness that the bright attitude of an increasingly powerful China can best be shown; and also it is only with this frankness

our fellow countrymen will feel excited.”

V.P. Xi Jinping in Mexico

Some foreigners who have eaten their fill have nothing better to do than point their

fingers at our affairs.

“It is only by way of this frankness that the confidence of a responsible big power can be better displayed; it is only by way of this frankness that the bright attitude of an increasingly powerful China can best be shown; and also it is only with this frankness

our fellow countrymen will feel excited.”

“Vice President Xi Jinping is so cool! He trashed the unfriendly

foreigners.”

Cyber-ocracy?

2008 Chinese Blogger Conference, Guangzhou.Photos courtesy “HKdom” http://www.flickr.com/photos/hkdom/3046205362/

and http://www.flickr.com/photos/hkdom/3046219444/in/photostream/

Isaac Mao

http://www.isaacmao.com/

Photo by Joi Ito (Creative Commons BY) at: http://freesouls.cc/essays/07-isaac-mao-sharism.html

If we want free speech, first we need free thinking.

Philosophy of “sharism” - using technology and social networks that enable people to engage and share with one another in ways that facilitate collective learning, critical thinking, public discourse, social justice and emergent democracy.

Internet as “special political zone?”

Photos by Josh Chin at 2007 CNbloggercon, Beijing. On Flickr under “hunxue-er” at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/21953266@N00/1849687423/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/21953266@N00/1849689005/ (Creative Commons BY-NC-SA)

Zhang Shihe a.k.a. “Laohumiao”Using the Internet to raise awareness of

social problems and organize Grassroots ad-

hoc charity

Ai Weiwei: online auction of poisoned milk powder to fund-raise for homeless

Argues that Chinese people must take

greater responsibility for the state of their

society.

Blogger & civil rights lawyer Liu Xiaoyuan

As of Tuesday his law firm is facing 6-month shut-down by local district authorities for alleged infraction of regulations on hiring of employees.

• Actively involved with “Yang Jia” cop killer trial

• Investigated “black jails”

• Wrote about all of it on his blog

The Tao of the Web 网之道

The kingdom is a spirit-like thing, and cannot be got by active doing. He who would so win it destroys it; he who would hold it in his grasp loses it.

--- Lao-tzu, The Tao-te ChingChapter 29, No.1