News websites in China, to comply with secret government orders, are requiring new users to log on under their true identities when posting comments. In early August 2009, the news portals began asking unregistered users to sign-in with true names and identification numbers. According to the editors of the portals, the sites were putting into effect a confidential directive issued in late July by the State Council Information Office, the main government body responsible for supervising the Internet in China.

Critics said that this secret move of the Chinese government is an invasion of freedom of speech, individual privacy and plays the watchdog role of the Web in China.

Thousands of sites, including liberal forums and blogs, have been closed under the Chinese government’s “War on Vulgarity”. The access to internet service, such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter, were cut off where unrest has erupted, notably the Xinjiang region after clashes occurred in July.

With the excuse of “pornography” and “vulgarity”, Chinese government further tightens the censorship of internet activities and suppresses freedom of speech, especially targeting dissidents. To urge the government to repeal laws, regulations and policies that deny the right to freedom of expression, ACPP issued UA030228(1) in February 2003.


Source:
International Herald Tribune

On top of regular internet censorship, the government issued a directive on 8 June that new computers must be installed with filtering software, Green Dam-Youth Escort, by 1 July 2009, on the pretext of promoting healthy development of the internet. The spokesman of the Foreign Ministry, Qin Gang, explained that the installation of Green Dam was for filtering out pornographic or violent materials on internet.

On 30 June, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced that the directive was delayed, apparently under the strong criticism from the netizens in China, as well as computer companies. Nevertheless, the government insisted that it was only suspended, but not scraped.

While it is welcomed that the directive was suspended, censorship on internet remains a problem. Incidentally, on 25 June, two days after the prominent dissident, Liu Xiaobo, was arrested, Google, including Gmail, MSN Messenger, QQ, instant communication tool in China, could not be accessed in Guangdong province for a few hours. Google services were cut off nationwide for a day. Earlier, Google was singled out and criticized by the Foreign Ministry spokesperson that it was spreading pornographic information. However, critics believed that the scope of censorship was not only eliminating pornographic information, but also those considered as politically-sensitive. To date, YouTube in China was still blocked after a video of Tibetan monks being beaten by the authorities was shown.

With tight control of press freedom, internet becomes the new battleground for right to information and freedom of expression in China. In February 2003, UA030228(1) was issued to urge the Chinese authorities to halt internet censorship and respect freedom of expression.

Source:
South China Morning Post

Blocking of websites breached the promise of the Chinese government to ensure internet freedom of foreign journalists during Beijing Olympic Game.  After protest from the International Olympic Committee in late July 2008, some of the websites were unblocked since then.  The unblocked websites include, BBC’s Chinese website, Reporters Without Borders, Amnesty International, Hong Kong newspapers Apple Daily and Mingpao, and Wikipedia, but censorship on websites related to Tibet, Xinjiang, Tiananmen Massacre, Falun Gong remained.  However, the relaxation of censorship did not last long.  Three months after the Paralympic Games, the unblocked websites were banned again in December 2008.

Responding to the resumption of net censorship, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, Mr. Liu Jianchao, alleged that websites were blocked as they have violated the Chinese laws and urged that the websties should be self-regulated.

"Undoubtedly, some websites violated Chinese laws. For example, some websites directly created 'two Chinas', treating the mainland and Taiwan province as two separate regions. This is in breach of the Anti-Secession Law, and also other laws," Mr Liu said.

Concerning freedom of expression in China, Hotline Asia issued UA030228(1) in February 2003 to request the Chinese government to repeal laws, regulations and policies that deny the right to freedom of expression.


Source:
South China Morning Post

On 5 February 2008, the Ministry of Information Industry and the State Administration of Radio Film and Television announced the easing of its Internet control that private companies in on-line video sharing industry would be allowed to continue their operation. However, any video-sharing services that began after the rules were issued must comply with the restrictions, which took effect on 31 January 2008.

Hotline Asia issued UA030228(1) in 2003 to urge the government to repeal laws, regulations and policies that deny the right to freedom of expression.


Source:
International Herald Tribune

There are observations that the Chinese authorities are rounding up internet dissidents and other human rights campaigners ahead of the 2008 Olympics.

Lu Gengsong, a Chinese dissident writer will face trial on 22 January 2008 on subversion charges. Lu was arrested last summer 2007 and indicted on charges of “inciting subversion of state power”, a charge used frequently to silence whistle-blowers and critics of the Communist Party. His wife said that Lu had written on local corruption cases, including allegations that city officials colluded with business people on real estate development projects. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists has urged British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to call for greater media freedoms in meetings with Chinese leaders.

Some activists were released on the ground that they accept the state’s offer. Wang Dejia, an internet dissident who has been detained since December 2007 on subversion charges was released, but only on the condition that he stops posting writings critical of the government. His wife said he was also ordered not to give interviews to foreign reporters. Among his internet postings, Mr. Wang wrote that China's "autocratic" government had destroyed the homes of ordinary people to build grandiose Olympic venues.

In 2003, Hotline issued UA030228(1) to urge the Chinese authorities to uphold the freedom of expression in Internet activities by stopping arrests of people who exercise their freedom of expression using the Internet.


Source:
Radio Television Hong Kong
Associate Press

According to the 10 October report by the Paris-based press freedom group, Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF), the Internet Information Administrative Bureau of China has sent orders of three kinds: bans issued before publication of a report, bans issued after publication of a report, and propaganda instructions.

According to the report, the Beijing Information Office has introduced a new system of “license points” for Web sites. As well as being fined, sites can have points withdrawn. If they lose all their points, they risk losing their licenses. But they can also win back points for good behaviour, it said. The practice has been confirmed by an employee at one of China’s large commercial web portals.

Other examples of directives include orders to display articles positive about the Communist Party and its history prominently, and to de-emphasis those reporting bad news such as suicides, fuel price hikes. Another order banned posting reports, except by Xinhua, the official news agency, about changes in the salaries of government officials, ordering websites to suppress any comments on the subject.

When the Chinese authorities denied access to more than half a million websites, including news, political and religious sites in 2003, Hotline Asia issued UA030228(1) to urge the government to repeal laws, regulations and policies that deny the right to freedom of expression.

Source:
Radio Free Asia

In 2003, Hotline Asia urged the Chinese authorities to repeal regulations and policies that deny the right to freedom of expression regarding Internet activities. However, the restriction on internet activities persists.

In March, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television have ordered the closure of China International Chinese Television Station's website due to engagement of illegal reporting. A Chinese activist, Zhang Jianhong, accused of posting subversive articles on the Internet, was sentenced to 6 years imprisonment by Ningbo Intermediate People's Court in Zhejiang Province.

According to industry sources, internet censorship in the country is a multi-layered structure. Messages and articles undergo at least 3 layers of vetting by filtering software, internet police and officials from various administrative departments. A website manager said the list of banned words was updated daily, sometimes within a single shift from different administrations.

Source:
South China Morning Post
International Herald Tribune

Since late June, the Information Office under the State Council and the Ministry of Information Industry launched a crackdown specifically targeting search engines, online chat rooms and blog services.

Since the crackdown, several popular sites have been taken offline. One of them is Century China, an online forum co-sponsored by the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s Institute of Chinese Studies.

Official statistics show that authorities have shut down more than 700 online forums this year and ordered 8 search engines to filter “subversive and sensitive” content based on about 1,000 keywords, ranging from ‘Falun Gong’ to ‘the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown’ and ‘Tibetan independence’.

Hotline Asia issued UA030228(1) to call for the repeal of policies in China that deny the right to freedom of expression on the Internet.

Source:
South China Morning Post

In February 2003, Hotline Asia appealed to the Chinese authorities on repealing laws and policies that deny the right to freedom of expression on the Internet. The development is, however, grave.

On 26 June, state media reported that a draft law currently under consideration by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress would impose fines of USD$6,250 to $12,500 on media outlets covering "sudden events" without prior authorization from government officials. The law is expected to limit coverage of epidemics, major accidents, demonstrations and other disruptive events. Critics are afraid that the law will be interpreted broadly by local officials to prevent reporting on any incidents considered potentially embarrassing.

On 30 June 2006, the Chinese government announced tighter controls on blogs and search engines to block material considered subversive or immoral. "As more and more illegal and unhealthy information spreads through blogs and search engines, we will take effective measures to put BBS, blogs and search engines under control," said Mr. Cai Wu, director of the Information Office of China's Cabinet.

Source:
Human Rights in China

According to the Beijing Morning Post, the authorities have closed more than 2,000 websites in 2005. The paper referred to these websites as "unhealthy", which describes a broad range of illegal content including pornography, excessive violence and political or religious issues.

Recent controversy over filtering and disclosure of data of a cyber-dissident by internet companies is raising concern about how internet companies work in China. In the case of Yahoo's handing over data of Mr. Li Zhi, a cyber-dissident, the group's spokesperson stated that the group only responded with what they were "legally compelled". Industry executives said, in practice, it means a provider cannot know whether a subscriber is suspected of political activity or for other kind of criminal offence. Press freedom watchdog Reporters Sans Frontier described the stance as invalid. Internet companies like Google, Microsoft, Cisco and Yahoo were accused of putting profits before principles in their push into the mainland market.

In 2003, UA030228(1) was issued to call for the repeal of regulations and policies in China that deny the right to freedom of expression on the Internet.

Source:
South China Morning Post

The Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Information Industry and the Information Office of the State Council have initiated a crackdown on internet "obscenity". As of 13 October and according to the ministries, 1,568 pieces of evidence were obtained, from which 76 criminal cases had been filed, resulting in arrests of 101 suspects.

In February 2003, Hotline Asia has issued UA030228(1) to urge Chinese authorities to uphold the freedom of expression in Internet activities by repealing policies that deny the right to freedom of expression.

Source:
International Herald Tribune

On 25 September 2005, China issued regulations designed to limit information available to Internet users. Under the regulations, major search engines must stop posting commentary articles. Existing online news site must give priority to news and commentary pieces distributed by national and provincial news organs. Moreover, private individuals and groups must register as "news organizations" before they can run e-mail distribution lists that spread news or view.

About 100 million people in China now have access to the Internet.

In February 2003, in view of the tightening control on the Internet, Hotline-Asia issued UA030228(1) to urge the Chinese authorities to repeal regulations that deny the right to freedom of expression.

Source:
International Herald Tribune

In Beijing, the capital city, the Beijing Internet Safety Service Center under the Beijing Public Security Bureau has launched the recruitment of 4,000 internet security officers to conduct cyber-monitoring. Once the officers detected visits to pornographic sites, scams involving secure information, or distribution of false information, they are expected to report those to the police.

In the same month of June, the Ministry of Information Industry announced that all Chinese-run websites that fail to register before 30 June 2005 will be temporarily closed. Temporarily closed sites had 10 days to comply before being shut down permanently. The move was the latest in the government's effort, known as the Great Firewall of China, to keep negative content off the web.

In 2003, UA030228(1) was issued to call for the repeal of regulations and policies that deny the right to freedom of expression on the Internet.

Source:
South China Morning Post

Heavy amount of articles in Communist Party-controlled media has called for increased vigilance against the hostile forces in the internet. Twice in the first week of December 2004, the Peoples' Daily has stated that "we must firmly uphold the principle of party controlling the media; and we must find ways to improve the technique and art of guiding public opinion." But it said it was unwise to demonize the internet and instead the medium should be made to serve the Party. The challenge was how to provide guidance, ranging from rebutting false information to using legal means to punish the creators of undesirable "noises".

In December 2004, five liberal writers using the internet were arrested. According to Mr. Yu Jie, one of arrestees, those arrests were not single incidents but were part of a campaign to clam down on intellectuals and the media.

Until 2003, people had hoped the internet could become the vehicle for democracy and free speech, but arrests of internet dissidents, the closure of controversial websites and the installation of meticulous filters had cleared internet space for propaganda. In view of this, Hotline Asia had issued UA030228(1) to urge the Chinese authorities to stop denying the people's right to freedom of expression.

Source:
South China Morning Post

Du Daobin, the internet dissident who had campaigned for the release of Liu Di, the "Stainless Steel Mouse", was released in June 2004, eight months after his arrest

However, the grip of centralized control has continued to tighten up on the cyberspace. In June, the Ministry of Information had unveiled a series of measures to regulate internet content, crack down on registered internet cafes and step up control of online bulletin boards and chat rooms. Mainland websites, internet service providers and other inter-related organizations were urged to sign an agreement setting up principles of "self-disciplines" and self-policing of the internet. On top of these nationally deployed measures, such as internet police officers, provincial governments are also introducing regulations of their own since June - Shanghai, the most Internet-connected city has introduced regulations requiring internet café customers to use electronic identification cards that would allow administrators or others to record and track their Internet use.

Traditional media agencies and mobile communications also experience the tightening control. Following an order from the State Press and Publication Administration, the Shanghai authority has shut six news bureaus of domestic media organizations in a campaign to "clean up" the sector. The city also requires more than 100 news bureaus to re-register over the past few months. On the mobile connections, the Xinhua official news agency had announced a campaign to censor telephone text message in early July. Short message service providers are being required to install filtering equipment that can monitor and delete messages that contain phrases that authorities consider suspicious.

Hotline Asia issued UA030228(1) to urge the Chinese authorities to release those who were detained for using the Internet to peacefully express their views or share information, and to uphold the freedom of expression in Internet activities by repealing laws, regulations and policies that deny the right to freedom of expression.

Source:
South China Morning Post

Internet activities continue to be restricted. After imposing a new censorship guidelines (UA Update in March 2004) on the content of online activities, another new supervision system has been proposed to operate at all internet cafes by the end of the year.

The Ministry of Culture is expected to set standards and designate computer softwares used by internet cafes nationwide. Shanghai aims to install the software on 110,000 computers by the end of June, for free. All internet cafe will be required to install special software that will help authorities monitor customers' activities. Authorities, as quoted by a local newspaper, said that the move was aimed at preventing minors from viewing pornography. However, web sites considered as pornographic or politically sensitive have previously been blocked.

In response, some activists said the policy violated personal rights and freedoms.

Since 2002, there has been increasing reports of growth in internet activities, as well as censorship in internet and blocks to foreign web sites. Many internet dissidents were detained for posting materials on the Internet to express views or share information. Hotline Asia issued UA030228(1) in February 2003, to express concern over the situation of freedom of expression, calling for the repeal of laws, regulations and policies that deny the right to freedom of expression.

Source:
South China Morning Post

Internet dissident, Liu Di, "the Stainless Steel Mouse," who was detained since November 2002, was released in November 2003. However, she was not allowed to return to Beijing Normal University where she studied psychology before her arrest.

On 16 March 2004, another internet dissident, Ouyang Yi was sentenced to two years in prison on charges of "incitement to subvert state power." He was first detained in December 2002, in connection with the open letter to the 16th Party Congress. According to the source, he was tried in secret without any prior notice given to his family or lawyer.

Meanwhile, new censorship guidelines for popular online discussion groups were imposed by the Chinese authorities. According to Minster of Culture, Mr. Sun Jiazheng, "Managing internet bars requires centralized measures, the people's prevention and monitoring and thorough control."

Guidelines were given to senior managers from the nation's largest internet portals in March. According to the guidelines, online news editors will only be permitted to carry news already censored. The new censorship system will allow the authorities to pre-check all postings before they appear on web pages and in discussion forums.

Although it is not unusual for the government to target websites, observers say this is the first time such close attention has been paid to censoring the content of online activities.

Hotline Asia issued UA030228(1) expressing the concern over the denial of the right to freedom of expression through internet and the conditions of those who have been arrested for expressing their views through this media.

Sources:
South China Morning Post
Far Eastern Economic Review
Human Rights in China

One of the internet dissidents, Liu Di was released on bail on 28 November 2003, just a week before Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to the United States, as well as the German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's visit to China.  The central government frequently releases dissidents to coincide with important trips abroad or visits by world leaders. It is speculated that this move amounted to an unconditional release because political detainees were rarely released on bail.

However, four dissidents, Xu Wei, Yang Zili, Zhang Hong-hai, and Jin Jaike, lost their appeals on 10 November 2003 and their sentence ranging from 8 to 10 years in prison was upheld.  They were arrested in March 2001 for posting their views on social issues online, after they set up "New Youth Association," a study group that discussed China's growing social problems.

Du Daobin, a prolific contributor of articles on social and political issues to online forums, who had rallied support for Ms. Liu's release was arrested on 28 October 2003.  Dozens of Chinese academics, reporters and scholars have called on the central government to release Mr. Du.  In an open letter to President Wen Jiabao, they criticized the arrest as groundless.

In October 2003, the Chinese government announced plans for a nationwide surveillance system aimed at controlling what people read and write when they visit internet cafes.

In view of the increasing internet censorship by the Chinese government and the related arrests for expressing views online, which is inconsistent with China's obligations under its own constitution and International Conventions, Hotline issued UA030228(1) to the call for the release of internet dissidents in China, and to raise awareness of the situation.

Source: South China Morning Post

29 May 2003
Continue to Appeal to New Leadership

Further information has been received that more internet activists have been arrested since March 2003. Zhang Yuxiang was arrested on 12 March 2003, at his home in Nanjing, and transported to the Jiangsu Provincial Public Security Bureau. He was reported to be under house arrest, but his wife has not received any formal notice or documentation regarding her husband's arrest.

According to the source, at least seven known web surfers have been arrested in China in recent months for supporting a campaign for greater freedom of speech. In its effort to impose Internet censorship, these arrests have continued and Chinese authorities have reportedly forced Internet companies to sign a pledge to agree not to post information that may "jeopardize state security. " The pledge was signed by over 300 companies, including the popular international search engine, Yahoo. Many international human rights and religious web sites have also been blocked. This is clearly inconsistent with international human rights standards that uphold and promote freedom of expression (International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights or ICCPR Article 19), to which China is a signatory.

Please continue to write letters to the authorities listed below to express your concern for freedom of expression in internet activities and support the release of internet dissidents, like Liu Di, Li Yibin, Tao Haidong, and Ouyang Yi, arrested for posting opinions in the Internet that the state considered to be a threat to national security. For background of the issue, please refer to UA030228(1).

Also, please note the change of leadership in People's Republic of China.

Send letters to:

President Hu Jintao
People's Republic of China, Chinese Communist Party
Yongdingmen CK, Street, Beijing 100032
People's Republic of China

Send Copies to:

1. Wang Xudong
   Minister of Information Industry
   13 Xichang'anjie, Beijingshi 100804
   People's Republic of China
2. Xu Yongyu
   Minister of State Security
   14 Dongchang'anjie, Dongcheng District
   Beijing 100741, PRC
3. Diplomatic representatives of People's Republic of China in your country

Source:
South China Morning Post
Human Rights in China