It's a pretty funny idea presented in that Daily Show clip, people watching you, following you around, it is just a paranoid notion, nothing that would ever happen here in the United States, or so we like to think. Of course it would be rare to find someone following you around and watching everything you do, but perhaps it is not as rare as we once thought. The internet is a source of communication and information. It is a network with almost infinite possibilities all over the world filled with emerging information everyday; however that cannot be said about the internet in China. Currently censorship and surveillance have found a home on the internet in China. The Chinese government, with the help of the search engines like Google and Yahoo, has found a new purpose for the internet and acting as a watchful eye over all its citizens and a new tool for indoctrination.
This website examines the pros and cons of internet censorship, it will consider the reasons that China has censored its internet, and the role the search engines have in all of this. This is not a website for enthusiasts for or against censorship or China, or the search engines. This website is interested in asking questions like was the internet intended to become a tool for surveillance, should governments be allowed to censor what its citizens see over the internet, should governments even be allowed to have any control over the internet? As you read this website consider these questions and consider your own.
There are many reasons behind China's desire for such intense Internet censorship. To the Chinese government, censoring the Internet provides a way for them to protect their citizens and way of life. The most commonly blocked Internet sites in China are those about Taiwan and Tibet. The communist Chinese government in the past few years has tried to fight the independence movements in Tibet, so when Chinese citizens try to search Tibet on line, the government grows concerned. If the citizens had constant access to such materials, it could cause riots and social instability used to fight the government in the way that Tibet did. China believes that the Internet threatens to expose ideas that could potentially cause political disturbances, so they choose to censor the Internet in order to prevent this.
Here is a chart displaying the ratio of sites blocked in China by Google search term.
In addition to increasing national security in China, the Chinese government is trying to decrease the amount of cyber-crime that plagues the Internet and Chinese citizens. In addition to blocking pornography from young people, the Chinese government wants the Internet to stop computer viruses and hackers from invading the privacy of not only the Chinese people and government but also other countries' governments. While a vast number of people believe the United States helping China censor their Internet violates the human rights of the Chinese, the censorship assists in protecting both countries. In August of 2005 United States government computers were attacked by hackers trying to access information regarding the Departments of Defense, State, Energy and Homeland Security. The intrusions emanated from Chinese websites. By limiting the Internet access and the government surveying Internet activity more closely in China, cyber-crime, domestic and foreign, can be watched more closely and eventually diminish. Therefore, not only one country benefits from Internet censorship, the restriction protects others from being violated.
While the promise of protection from hackers and political riots gives Internet censorship a complementary light, downsides to this restriction do exist. China convinced American Internet companies like Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft to censor their websites to be sensitive to the laws of China. However, in 2005 Yahoo! assisted the Chinese government gain access to a Yahoo! email account belonging to Shi Tao in order to prove he sent information warning ''journalists of the dangers of social unrest resulting from the return of dissidents on the 15th anniversary of the Tienanmen Square massacre.'' (Yahoo 'helped') Surprisingly, Shi Tao was not the first person to be betrayed like this. At first this seems to merely be protecting the country, but this scares many people. It now seems that companies such as Google and Yahoo! Not only assist in censoring the Chinese Internet, but also are informants for the Chinese government. The Shi Tao case raises fears that any government around the world could potentially view things such as your email. This violates any privacy that the Internet previously offered.
Such an intrusion into Chinese citizens' personal lives has people all over the world believing that the China and these Internet companies are abusing their power. With the Internet companies like Yahoo! having the power to access anyone's email and also maintaining a strong relationship with China and their police when it comes to censorship, the Chinese citizens are not safe on line. When the companies receive subpoenas from the government, they say that they do not know what the government will use this information for, but they have to do it because of legal obligations. In addition to admission into private email accounts, companies like Google and Microsoft have been strongly criticized for their compliance with China when it comes to shutting down web logs and limiting their searches when it comes to topics that could threaten their Communist regime such as democracy and independence. The companies are abusing the enormous power that they have over the Internet by only showing certain countries certain information at the request of the Chinese government. Such exploitation causes the Chinese people to continually be cautious of what they do online because they do not know who is watching.
The Chinese government claims that the internet and some of its content can affect the health of their youths. Due to this belief the government has made certain attempts to protect its youth from inapposite content online. They have gone about this by censoring certain sites and blocking search topics. For the Chinese government it is not enough just censor the material but they feel they must also keep the internet away from their children. The government has ordered the closing of over eight thousand internet cafes. Along with this new policy a resolution has been passed in which no internet cafe may operate within residential areas or within two hundred meters of a primary or high school.
Who Is China Trying To Protect: The current claim from the Chinese government is that their censorship of the internet is in place to protect the youth of their country. But is it the youth that they are protecting or themselves? Over the past several months China has begun setting up committees, the main one being the Ministry of Culture, to review all new computer and video games before they hit the shelves. Any game that was put on the market before the institution of the Ministry of Culture will have to go in front of the review board. The Ministry has documented that 140 of the most widely played games in China are damaging to their youths psychological well being because of the games content which include, sex, violence, and gambling. The Ministry has also noted that 8 out of every 10 imported games have remained unchecked. The Ministry has outlined the following guidelines for games and websites. Any violation of these guidelines will have these games or websites banned.
Guidelines for banning games:
Games and Websites that threaten:
Many would agree that sex and violence are themes that should be omitted from video games, especially games played by younger children; however those are not the themes China seems to be most concerned with. A game, "Hearts of Iron," was taken off the market after it was charged with "distorting history, damaging sovereignty, and territorial integrity." In this game the makers portrayed Tibet and Manchuria as independent nations, which violates the guidelines because it threatens their territorial integrity as the Chinese believe it and attest to it those two countries are part of China. Another game, "Project IG12: Covert Strike," was pulled off the market and banned because in the game mercenaries were able to overthrow the Chinese military, which the government believed threatened their national dignity.
Aside from censoring video games, the Chinese authorities have also set their sights on online journaling sites. After the authorities learned of a dissent message posted on two popular online journals (used by over 15000 users) the site was shut down. Along with censoring games, the Chinese government has asked search engines to censor search results. For example if a person in China were to look up Tibet Independence Movenment, the articles that would come up would not be about the movement but about how Tibet is rebelling against China. The website for Amnesty International has been completely blocked because of its mission for human rights.
At first it looks as though China is protecting its youth. They are keeping harmful images out of their youths view. Rather than sit by and let their youth become as desensitized like other countries youths they are taking direct action. The question needs to asked are these new policies a hazard or just good old fashioned paternalism? Shouldn't a government care for its citizens? But their guidelines for censoring video games do not outline methods to reduce violence or sex, but any images that deface their national dignity.
What happens when independent companies become agents of the government? Where do citizens have to turn for privacy? Currently there are three cases in which Yahoo has worked with the Chinese government to hand over individuals who have spoken out against the government. Yahoo has handed over IP addresses and Yahoo email accounts to the authorities. This evidence has lead to harsh punishments, in one case a man, Shi Tao, being sentenced to 10 years in prison. Yahoo's actions are questionable. Yes, a company's main goal is to maximize profits, but at what cost should a company pursue this goal. Should a company comply with what its customers want no matter what a customer wants? In the case of Yahoo in China, the citizens of the China are not their customers, but the Chinese government is. If the customer wants the company to spy on its citizens? Should the company act as a branch of secret police officers for the government? Should independent companies merge themselves with government if independent companies are controlled by the government, where can the citizens turn to for protected service? What happens when a source of information and communication becomes a government outlet to watch its citizens? What happens when a government takes hold of and manipulates that information? Where do the people turn to for unbiased information? How will we get another side to every story?
What exactly are Google and Yahoo doing wrong? The goal of any company is to expand. In order to expand and be successful a company has to make its products available in new markets—right now China is about the largest new market with estimates of between 80 and 94 million potential new customers. Unlike the United States it is not the individual customer that these companies have to sell to, but it is the Chinese government. From one perspective they are bowing to the Chinese government’s wishes and ignoring the personal privacy of Chinese citizens, but complying with the Chinese government was the only way that these companies could have done business in China.
Activist groups are outraged with Google and Yahoo's behavior. Reporters without Borders, especially is appalled and is calling for boycotts of these search engines. These groups are correct to question these companies ethics, when should company weigh ethical issues override potential profits? In a way it is inappropriate to ask Google and other companies to abandon this new and abundant market. If they don’t bow to the government then another company will be willing to make certain sacrifices and modifications to their product in order to gain control of the new market.
Currently the Bush administration has been putting more and more pressure on the search engines companies, like Google and Yahoo to divulge information about their users. In the face of this pressure they are refusing. Why? Why are they complying with the Chinese authorities and fighting against the Bush Administration. Because like any good company their loyalty lies with their customers, and as of right now their customers are the American people and not the US government.
By Christy Herring and Ellie Morris