China imposes new internet controls

18 December 2009 | 10:18 - By Stefano Boscutti

China's government censors have taken fresh aim at the internet, rolling out new measures that limit ordinary citizens' ability to set up personal websites and to view hundreds of other websites.

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The authorities say that the stricter controls are intended to protect children from pornography, to limit the piracy of films, music, and television shows, and to make it hard to perpetuate internet scams. (Gee, where have heard this before.) But the measures also appear designed to enhance the government's already strict control of any organized political opposition. In various pronouncements, top propaganda and security officials have stressed anew the need to police the internet on ideological and security grounds. The newly announced restrictions are the government's broadest effort to control the internet since last June, when it tried to require manufacturers to install internet filtering software on all new computers. Officials scaled back that program, known as the Green Dam-Youth Escort (ah, newspeak as branding) after an outcry by both ordinary internet users and corporations.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/18/world/asia/18china.html

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Comments (2)

23 Dec 2009 6:27 AEST

Stefano

From: Melbourne

but who censors the censors

So it seems you wouldn't mind if I censor your comments if I find them, err . . . disagreeable. It's not really a question of children viewing pornography (last time I checked this was the responsibility of their parents and not the state). Internet censorship is a question of freedom of speech. Some value this more than others.

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22 Dec 2009 20:58 AEST

m.m

From: victoria

biased and blind to the reality of things

"Gee where have we heard this before"? That sentence alone renders this piece unworthy of being read by anyone with half a brain. You bias is sickening; perhaps you find it okay for children to view pornography, but the chinese authorities (as indeed most of this planet's population) do not. You are quick to point out the supposed faults, what you don't mention is that they are also targeting websites containing racist, hateful and other discriminatory material (a positive aspect of the plan)

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About this Blog

New New Media looks at how our mediascape is exploding to bits. How the latest technology and the internet are changing the way we live, work and play. How the latest media is shaping us all.

Stefano Boscutti is an executive creative director and strategist. He's like a better looking version of Todd Sampson. He also has an abiding faith that stories and wordplay (and not powerpoint presentations) will change the world.

 
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