China’s internet

Hi,

Today me and my friends had the day off and we decided to go once to a cybercafé to know the latest news. Remarkable was that we couldn’t see everything we wanted, some news was inaccessible or the trailers for dramatic movies was deleted. Then I asked myself the question, why is some information on the World Wide Web forbidden and how can they manipulate all the information in China.

I popped into a site saying that there was a new central agency, the State Internet Information Office, who controls everything of the vast Internet community. This agency can manipulate information with software “online content management”.  For instance they control every online game, video and publication. The agency promotes the major news Websites and infiltrates on every site governments propaganda. It’s like the new agency wants to brainwash the community by false and manipulated information.

But that’s not all the new agency wants to have the authority to investigate other firms or online providers and punish them, if they break any content rules. Then China would control a huge part of the telecommunications companies in their country. The general managers of the central agency would be two former officials and executives from two central ministries.

The government agencies have seen a chance to gain more money and authority, as a regulatory turf, due to the very quickly development of China’s Internet business. Minimum 14 government ministries from culture and technology control all the films and books uploaded and what appears on China’s Internet.

To stop all the gossip and the prejudices the government announced that the new office wouldn’t work with government units to regulate the Internet. But with this statement some experts weren’t convinced, they still think it will be units of the government.

I think the battle between companies and the government is still on, because Internet is a lucrative business, something that you don’t give up that easily.  Don’t you think so?

Friendly regards

Céline

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/05/world/asia/05china.html?ref=china