The Internet and State Control in Authoritarian Regimes: China, Cuba, and the Counterrevolution

Many authoritarian regimes translate a long and successful history of control over other information and communication technologies into strong control of Internet development within their borders. Potential challenges to the state may arise from Internet use in several areas: the mass public, civil society, the economy, and the international community. Authoritarian states will likely respond to these challenges with a variety of reactive measures: restricting Internet access, filtering content, monitoring on-line behavior, or even prohibiting Internet use entirely. In addition, such states seek to extend central control through proactive strategies, guiding the development of the medium to promote their own interests and priorities. Through a combination of reactive and proactive strategies, an authoritarian regime can counter the challenges posed by Internet use and even utilize the Internet to extend its reach and authority.

In this paper we illustrate how two authoritarian regimes, China and Cuba, are maintaining control over the Internet’s political impact through different combinations of reactive and proactive strategies. These cases illustrate that, contrary to assumptions, different types of authoritarian regimes may be able to control and profit from the Internet. Examining the experiences of these two countries may help to shed light on other authoritarian regimes’ strategies for Internet development, as well as help to develop generalizable conclusions about the impact of the Internet on authoritarian rule.


CHINA ( MIN-SUK KIM)

China Blocks YouTube and Google remains Ambitious

China Blocks YouTube and Google remains Ambitious
Internet giant Google announced in late March that YouTube was blocked in China, the New York Times reported on March 24. According to the Xinhua news agency, a fabricated video depicting Tibetan being brutally beat by Chinese police after riots in the Tibetan Capital, Lhasa last year made by supporters of the Dalai Lama was to blame.
While China routinely blocks individual videos on YouTube, it is not common for the entire site to be disabled. It is speculated that the blocking of YouTube is in conjunction with China’s effort to heighten its Internet Censorship in recent months. The site also hosts videos about the Tienanmen Square protests and many other subjects that Chinese authorities find objectionable.
Despite this block, it is interesting to note that Google, just a few days later, on March 30, announced that it had begun to offer in China links to free music downloads, a service it does not offer anywhere else in the world. China is one of the few markets where Google is behind. A blockade of its video-sharing site will not deter the internet giant from market expansion in China.
China can do what it wants. The point is: it is too great an internet market. Profit/China wins.
Rachel Clement (China)

China: Shutdowns and Sexual Frustrations

In the wake of many Press Freedom agencies releasing their first batch of 2009 country reports, China once again finds itself on the naughty list of internet-abusing nations, to put it lightly. In fact, an unknown militant group called Reporters Without Borders has placed China front an center in it's list of "Internet Enemies" nations.

As mentioned in earlier blog posts, 2009 marks many "sensitive" anniversaries of political events in China, and that has made the Chinese government and censors jumpy. Recently, a new wave of censorship and intimidation has occurred, including but not limited to:

-a nationwide blocking of YouTube because of a posted video showing a Tibetan monk being beaten to death
-a retired professor was beaten by thugs for going to the gravesite of a politically-shamed leader, while police looked on
- a social commentator's website is shut down after posting articles moderately critical of arbitrary detentions.

But now a new threat from China has emerged: due to the infamous "one-child policy" of China which encourages the birth of boys and the abortion of girls, experts predict that the Chinese male population will outnumber females by 32 million by the next generation. The Business Insider states that "a nation full of single males is bound to be dangerous and volatile, with a voracious desire to sublimate sexual frustration into bigger and bigger toys: guns and missiles."

Food for thought.

-Steve Kwan

China: Chinese Hackers Infiltrate US, Steals USA's WOW Items

A few days ago, news broke on all the major media sources that the United States Electricity Grid might have been hacked into by people outside of the country.

Now, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that China is the one responsible for this cyber break-in.

According to the reports, the spies left malicious code and programming in the grid which could potentially disrupt operations. And while some security officials are pointing the finger at China already, China has, of course, denied any knowledge of such actions.

“The intrusion doesn’t exist at all,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu at a press conference. “We hope that the concerned media will prudently deal with some groundless remarks, especially those concerning accusations against China.”

China continues to flex its new internet prowess, while Americans obsess over how Kim Kardashian gets those fabulous curves going.

-Steve Kwan

China: Canadian Mooses Spreading "Lies" About China Internet Spying

A report on a China-based computer spy-ring was dismissed by a Chinese spokesperson as "lies" and symptoms of "a Cold War virus".

The Canadian group Information Warfare Monitor said in its report that a network, based mainly in China, hacked into classified documents from government and private organizations in 103 countries, including the computers of the Dalai Lama and his exiled Tibetan government.

Taking a leaf from the North Korea Public Relations handbook, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang refused to directly address the allegations and instead chose to turn the tables on these so-called "researchers".

"Some people outside China now are bent on fabricating lies about so-called Chinese computer spies." Qin said. "Their attempt to tarnish China with such lies is doomed to failure."

"You asked if we will investigate or track down these criminals. I think it is high time to track down those people who've been attacked by the (Cold War) virus I talked about." Qin added.

Anyone majoring in PR should take a semester abroad in China and study at the feet of the master, Qin Gang.

In other news, a Tibetan monk was beaten to death by police in southwest China after calling for protests. As there is no independent verification of this report, we can safely assume that this AP report is nothing more than vicious lies perpetrated by Canadian polar bears.

-Steve Kwan

All Blame on the "Tibetan Government in Exile"

Last week, Tibetan exiled groups voiced outrage at a video that has surface on youtube recently that shows Chinese militarized policemen beating detained Tibetans during an ethnic unrest a year ago in China. At a March 26 briefing, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, Qin Gang, was dismissive of the video.

"I have also seen the video. The contents are obviously edited and doctored. Maybe the Dalai clique got some tips of image-editing from certain western media. What I want to point out is that the March 14 incident is a grievous violent crime involving beating, smashing, looting and burning premeditated, organized and instigated by the Dalai clique, and perpetrated by the separatist forces for "Tibetan Independence" both in and outside China acting in collusion," Qin said, adding that during the riot "armed police force had all along maintained the utmost restraint and performed their duties according to law and in a civilized manner."

Within a day after the briefing, the Chinese government had decided to block access to youtube from within China. According to Tim Johnson's article "as of today, YouTube once again appears available in China. But if you try to see the video, you get a banner that says, 'This video has been removed due to terms of use violation.'"

-Van Hoang
Group China

china's censorship 2.0

The video clip showed china’s censorship 2.0 how companies censor bloggers.
It is a very good video clip to understand Chinese internet censorship by Chinese Blog-hosting Companies.

Categories of Chinese Internet censorship

1. “Outside the great firewall”

• Filtering of websites outside of China

2. “Inside the great firewall”

• Deletion of content on domestic commercial websites
• Takedown of domestically hosted websites
• Shut-down of data centers

Also, the video clip explained detail examples.


Min-Suk Kim (China)

CHINA: shoe? what shoe?

On February 2, 2009, a man threw a shoe at Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, muh like the infamous incident when an Iraqi reporter hurled a shoe a former President George W Bush. China ran the coverage of the shoe incident versus Bush, but the "disturbance" involving Mr. Wen was censored from all broadcasts and reports.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Jiang Yu, did not explicitly address the shoes at a press conference - but rather referred to the "despicable disturbance" and "disruption" during his speech.  She assured the press that the incident would not interfere with friendly Chinese and British relations. 

Abiding by strict state regulation, state-run CCTV network and the official Xinhua News Agency made no mention of a shoe thrown at Wen.

"In the live broadcast of the speech on CCTV's Web site, the camera remains fixed on Wen, not showing the shoe or the protestor, although his remarks and the sound ofo the shoe hitting the stage can be heard."

This censorship is an idyllic example of how China continues to "keep a tight grip on its media, blocking any content deemed as a challenge or insulting to the ruling Community Party or the country's leaders."

Sidenote: The shoe was thrown on the third day of Wen's visit to Britain, which was soiled by demonstrations over human rights and policies in Tibet.  The man who threw the shoe was not Chinese and will appear before magistrates on charges of committing a public order offense.  The shoe was picked up quietly by one of Wen's aids, and Wen continued his speech after a pause and quick sideways glance. 

Samantha Mayer (CHINA)

CHINA: 'Can boost stimulus plan'

Premier Wen Jiabao spoke optimistically about the economic future and relations between China and United States.  His commentary came "at the end of China's annual parliamentary session - the only time he takes questions from reporters." 

Mr. Wen agreed with the global consensus that 2009 may be more difficult than 2008, but that 2010 will be better.  "He said confidence was 'more important than gold or money' in overcoming the world's financial troubles."  He addressed and honored the United States as he expressed his continued interested and investment in the capitalist economy.

China will receive a stimulus plan of $586bn from the Communist government.  $173bn of this package will be spent on "public welfare, technological innovation, environmental protection and infrastructure projects."  Skeptics question the validity of this plan, as China is not well-known for protecting the best interest of the public or environment.  

Mr. Wen targets a growth of 8% annually with this new stimulus plan, specifically by boosting consumption and raising consumer demands.  But fear of social instability within the Communist nation is present, if the annual growth continues to slip.

The Chinese economy depends greatly on trade.  But recent official figures showed that Chinese trade has decreased drastically from a year ago: exports are down more than a quarter from last February to $64.9bn, and imports also fell by 24.1% to $60.1bn.

These statements from Mr. Wen came hours before the G-20 summit was announced for April 2 to discuss the global economy.  The 20 countries make up more than 80% of the world economy. 

China has an estimated $1 trillion in dollar-denominated U.S. government debt.  

Samantha Mayer (China)

CHINA: Guangdong Mobile investing 6b yuan for 3G network expansion

Despite economic hardship felt worldwide, Chinese mobile company, Guangdong, is investing 6-billion yuan, or roughly $877 million USD, to expand the 3G network.

The expansion aims to cover the South China province "within this year and sign up 500,000 TD-SCDMA users." Guangdong plans to build 6,300 TD-SCDMA base stations within the year. 

TD-SCDMA stands for Time Division-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access.  It is a channel access method developing in China "in an attempt not to be dependent on Western technology." 

"Guangdong branch is the largest provincial branch of China mobile." In contrast to most global companies, Guangdong increased by 9% in business revenue in 2008.  There were more than 80 million users as of 2008.  

To compare, the largest mobile company in the United States is Verizon Wireless carrying 83.7 million users across Verizon, Alltell and Vodafone. 

-Samantha Mayer (CHINA)

China plans lunar landing as early as 2013

According to the China Daily, China plans make their first moon probe by the year 2013. This was announced a year after China became the third country, behind the United States and Russia, to walk on the moon. The spaceship that will make the probe, called Chang'e III, is named after a legendary moon goddess.

"The mission of Chang'e III is to make soft landing and probe the moon, said Ye, a member of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China's top political advisory body." In order to test the landing technology, China will launch Chang'e II in 2011.

This is part of China's three-part space mission, which should conclude in 2020. The three parts of the mission are orbiting, landing, and returning. The first part was completed when Chang'e I landed on the moon this past Sunday.

Chang'e IV will also be launched during the second phase of the mission; however, further detail was not released.

- Jessica Wenger (CHINA)

China: Nobody Likes a Snitch

According to Radio Free Asia, a "major news study" has shown that politically sensitive material on Chinese blogs does sometimes make it through China's Great Firewall.

The study, headed by professors from the University of Hong Kong, stated that since Internet companies in China are charged with the preliminary censorship of touchy material, many banned subjects such as Tibet and the 1989 Tiananmen "incident" are still somewhat available.

On the study of 15 Chinese blog platforms, 13 had banned content related to the religious sect Falun Gong, 12 had banned content relating to the Tibetan Independence Movement, and nine had banned content relating to Tiananmen Square.

As Radio Free Asia is currently also banned inside of China, its likely that their report will be read by China's censors, which may in turn lead to the loopholes which are described being closed.

So good job.


-Steve Kwan

What are the primary censoring agencies in China?

Several government bodies are involved in reviewing and enforcing laws related to information flowing within, into, and from China, but the two primary censoring agencies are the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) and the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television (SARFT). GAPP licenses publishers, screens written publications (including those on the Internet), and has the power to ban materials and shut down outlets. SARFT has similar authority over radio, television, film, and Internet broadcasts.But the most powerful monitoring body is the Communist Party’s Central Propaganda Department (CPD), which coordinates with GAPP and SARFT to make sure content promotes and remains consistent with party doctrine.

China’s media system is considered by press freedom organizations to be a propaganda tool. The article showed China’s news system as Propaganda Machine. The CPD gives media outlets directives restricting coverage of politically sensitive topics—such as protests, environmental disasters, Tibet, and Taiwan—which could be considered dangerous to state security and party control. The CPD guidelines are given to heads of media outlets, who in turn kill controversial stories and decide how delicate topics will be covered. Journalists who do not follow the rules face reprisals in the workplace.


Min-Suk Kim
Country: China

Macau and Hong Kong Journalists Snubbed

Amnesty International reported earlier this month tighter restrictions on journalists from Macau and Hong Kong. The new rules announced on February 6 introduce a structural obstacle requiring that Hong Kong and Macao journalists to obtain prior approval from the authorities before each and every trip to the mainland. Journalists will now have to notify the authorities before traveling and obtain a press card from the All-China Journalists Association (the official union) before working on the mainland. Further, it is required that they show the card before interviewing Chinese citizens.
The current media regulation for Hong Kong and Macao journalists is the tighter than that of foreign and Taiwanese journalists. Prior to the Olympic Games, more lenient press arrangements were introduced which are still in effect for foreign and Taiwanese Journalists.
According to the government news agency Xinhua, the new regulations state that: “Journalists from Hong Kong and Macau must abide by national laws and journalism ethics and should carry out coverage objectively and fairly.
Macau (pop. 526,000) and Hong Kong (pop. 7 million) are both Special Administration Regions (SAR) of China. Both countries are to enjoy a high degree of autonomy, except in defense and foreign affairs, under the SAR's constitution and the Basic Law.
It is absurd that Honk Kong and Macau journalists are more restricted than foreign journalists. This regulation comes at a time of many notable anniversaries in China which will undoubetedly draw much media attention. Two-thousand nine marks the 50th anniversary of the 1959 uprising in Tibet, the 30th anniversary of the "Democracy Wall" movement, and the 20th anniversary of the crackdown on the 1989 pro-democracy Tiananmen protests.
A Hong Kong journalist who often visits the mainland told Reporters Without Borders: “The impact on our work depends on the way the local authorities apply it. I fear that, as regards sensitive stories, this will prevent us from doing our reporting properly. There could be a restrictive attitude during this coming year, which is a sensitive one.”
-Rachel Clement, CHINA

China: We Didn't Start The Fire

Chinese media censorship activities aren't just limited to overseas occurrences and domestic human rights brutalities. Media censorship in China also extends to trying to spare government agencies from embarrassment.

A week ago, the unfinished Beijing Television Cultural Center was set ablaze by a firework display gone wrong. The blaze ended up claiming the life of a firefighter, but if you lived in mainland China, you wouldn't know much about it.

After the fire, a memo went out to news outlets and blogs ordering them to cease reporting on the fire. Part of the memo can be seen here (scroll down a little).

Why would the Chinese government want to to censor news like this? For one, the tower is owned by CCTV, the government-run national broadcaster. Secondly, the public consensus in China on buildings like the TCC is that they are ugly and a waste of money. The main CCTV headquarters (which you can see here) has been aptly nicknamed by most Chinese people as "The Big Underpants" for its unique yet puzzling design.

The Seattle Times has the best explanation on why the event was censored, suggesting that the initial response to the fire from Chinese citizens, which ranged from amusement to more amusement, was deemed to be inappropriate in the case of a building which is supposed to be a symbol of China's growing media prowess.

-Steve Kwan

China decision to create a blacklist of reporters

It seems the pre-Olympic promise that China made to guarantee total press freedom, has fade even further by the recent decision by the Chinese government to create "a list of reporters who break reporting rules and prevent them from continuing to report or edit news." This announce of this list was reported on the website of the official China Press and Publishing Journal.
The article reported that the General Administration of Press and Publication (the agency that control China's media), will "establish a database of media professionals with a bad record." The new rules currently only apply to Chinese reporters. The foreign press is under the supervision of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Bob Dietz, CPJ's Asia program coordinator express his concern as so: "We are alarmed by any government that attempts to decide who is a 'good' journalist and who is a 'bad' journalist." And Dietz added that "Media in post-Olympics China have come under more restrictions since the Games ended in August 2008. We hope the government does not use the legitimate desire to improve the integrity of media in China to continue its crackdown on reporting that is critical of the government."

-Van Hoang (China)

Censorship in China: Protests? In China? Eh Oh.

The bloggers of China have sent a very clear message to the world: in China, nobody has the right to censor David's nuts.

After several images of famous renaissance art was removed from Douban.com (some sort of Chinese IMDB knockoff) because the administrators feared that such images would be considered to be pornography.

Chinese webcitizens were outraged, so outraged that to protest this, bloggers started posting pictures of renaissance art with modern clothing on them.

After the firestorm, Douban.com eventually relented and reposted the content. And as overbearing as the websites actions may seem, this was not without merit: according to the AFP, government censors have shut down 1,635 websites and 200 blogs over a month-long period for content that "harms public morality."

Even in the face of this daring act of slapstick protest, Chinese dissidents shouldn't be getting too optimistic. With a UN review of China's human rights record due very soon, the AP has described China's on dissent to be "...firm as ever."

-Steve Kwan

Censorship in China: How China (this part of title censored)

As much as the Chinese government would like to keep the clamps on internet freedom in China, the fact is that China is now the world's largest internet user, with over 300 millon citizens using the internet.

China may be proud of the fact that so many of it's citizens are web-savvy, but the ruling Chinese Communist Party still does its best to keep a mindful eye over what content the Chinese people can expose themselves to. The censorship of Barack Obama's reference to Communism during his inauguration is a fine example of the paradoxical Communist-Capitalism game China likes to play.

Yesterday, the New York Times published this article about the recent January web censorships of shows and forums which the government deemed unacceptable. The article is a good introduction of how China's web censorship works. As mentioned in the article, China's internet blockade, while by no means impenetrable, is still one of the most advanced in the world.

With important milestone anniversaries of controversial events coming up in 2009 (i.e. 20th anniversary of Tiananmen Square "incident"), a Chinese official summed up the CCP's stance toward web censorship this year by saying, “You have to check the channels one by one, the programs one by one, the pages one by one. You must not miss any step. You must not leave any unchecked corners.”

"ROFL down the stairs," added the official. Just kidding. But as China continues to expand it's position as web consumer and world power, the situation with their internet censorship laws will be an interesting one to monitor.

We haven't forgotten about those who prefer old-fashioned censorship; there's plenty of that to go around as well.

-Steve Kwan