Wolfman
Chief Solipsistic, Autosycophant
A very good article about the battle between bloggers and the Chinese gov't. It highlights some of the key issues in China:
A) Blogging and social/political commentary are rife on the Chinese internet...and very, very popular.
B) The Chinese gov't is constantly trying to find ways to monitor/control online content, to prevent "social unrest"
C) Despite having probably the most sophisticated filtering software in the world, and absolute control over all servers in China, the gov't consistently lags behind the online community
It really is a war. One side develops a new form of 'attack'; the other side adjusts, creates new countermeasures and strategies; the first side then adapts again. But I think it is important that people outside China understand that for all the hype about gov't censorship, the Chinese online community (now topping 420 million people) is far from being a passive victim. And, in fact, are often better informed, and more technologically savvy, than their western counterparts.
The internet is the Chinese gov't's Pandora's Box. Once they opened it, they found it impossible to close it again. And is proving to be one of the most potent tools of social and political transformation in China.
A) Blogging and social/political commentary are rife on the Chinese internet...and very, very popular.
B) The Chinese gov't is constantly trying to find ways to monitor/control online content, to prevent "social unrest"
C) Despite having probably the most sophisticated filtering software in the world, and absolute control over all servers in China, the gov't consistently lags behind the online community
It really is a war. One side develops a new form of 'attack'; the other side adjusts, creates new countermeasures and strategies; the first side then adapts again. But I think it is important that people outside China understand that for all the hype about gov't censorship, the Chinese online community (now topping 420 million people) is far from being a passive victim. And, in fact, are often better informed, and more technologically savvy, than their western counterparts.
The internet is the Chinese gov't's Pandora's Box. Once they opened it, they found it impossible to close it again. And is proving to be one of the most potent tools of social and political transformation in China.
