The War on the Internet - update

Analyst: China Internet move part of global trend (CNN) -- In early January China released a list of major online portals and Web sites that it claims provide and spread pornographic or obscene content, state media reported. Farmers in China learn how to use the Internet in April 2008 in Guangdong province. Rebecca MacKinnon, co-founder of Global Voices, an assistant professor of journalism at Hong Kong University, a former CNN correspondent and an observer of China and the Internet, recently discussed with CNN the move by Beijing. CNN: Is this affecting Web sites in Hong Kong? MacKinnon: Not to my knowledge. Of course, in Hong Kong there is a review on obscene articles ordinances and debate on how such content should be censored. There are some Web sites in mainland China that have Hong Kong investments that would be affected, but this is a one-country, two-systems policy. Hong Kong and China have separate legal jurisdictions. CNN: Are these recent actions connected to filtering? MacKinnon: This crackdown isn't related to filtering; there are two types of censorship already in place. One kind of censorship is blocking overseas Web sites. However, the crackdown on Monday, performed by six different government departments relates to a different type of censorship. This is aiming for Web sites that operate inside of China and the content is completely removed from the Internet." . CNN: How effective will China's actions be? MacKinnon: The crackdown listed 19 different Web sites. The government basically said there was too much inappropriate material, or "low and vulgar" content, and sites need to clean up their act. Three Chinese Web sites apologized and created a hot line to report it. On Tuesday, three editors at Netease, based in South China, were dismissed as a result of content which appeared. Chinese Web site companies are definitely jumping to clean it. oogle China apologized publicly on their Chinese blog about what they're doing in China and explained they're removing the inappropriate content. They even set up a hot line and support e-mail to allow users to report any inappropriate content. Netease, Baidu and Sina had also done the same thing and have all apologized. Companies are doing their best to comply. However, people could argue that the technology they use to censor sexual content can also be used clean up political censorship however there is no direct evidence to show it. CNN: How effective have other countries been with similar actions? MacKinnon: A lot of countries are filtering Internet pornography on the Internet. Take a look at the Open Net Initiative (opennet.net), they show systematic studies on Internet filtering around the world. There are several dozen countries that filter the Internet on a national basis. Australia is testing a nationwide filtering system. The United Kingdom temporarily blocked Wikipedia because it contained an image on an album cover of a child that appeared offensive. However, the idea of censoring inappropriate content ties with debates on who has the power to decide what is appropriate and what is not. Internet censorship is happening all over the world and it's growing. CNN: What do you think prompted this action by China? MacKinnon: There are crackdowns from time to time. Generally, before Chinese New Year, there is some sort of anti-porn crackdown that takes place. It's a seasonal thing, not many people are entirely shocked. There was a crackdown on an online video site last March, which resulted in a 24-hour shutdown. Companies in China have expectations of these sorts of things and prepare to deal with it. CNN: Is more content getting through China's filtering systems? MacKinnon: Most Chinese users do not use proxies. However it is difficult to do a full-fledged survey to find out, since it is a very sensitive topic. Although you cannot get definitive numbers, analysts look at Chinese Internet behavior by observing Internet users and it appears that only small percentage uses proxies to circumvent certain blacklisted Web sites.  Learn more on how China filters the Internet » And those users are usually foreigners trying to access their favorite blogs. However, there is so much interesting content that is not blocked and most people find it too much of a hassle to use proxies. (original article)

Australian Federal Government’s Internet Censorship Plans

December 26, 2008 – (HOSTSEARCH.COM) – Concerns have been raised about the scope of possible Internet censorship planned by the Australian Federal government, a number of sources reported recently. While the plans were assumed to target Internet traffic, the country’s Broadband Minister, Stephen Conroy, recently suggested on an official blog that the government was setting up a trial of technology that “filters” information sent “between computers”.  Discussing a move that appears to target issues related to peer-to-peer video and music file sharing over the Internet, Senator Conroy was reported as suggesting, "Technology that filters peer-to-peer and BitTorrent traffic does exist and it is anticipated that the effectiveness of this will be tested in the live pilot trial".  The comments are found on a government blog in a discussion entitled “Digital Economy Future Directions”. The blog was established to gather public input on the direction Australia should take as far as the “digital economy” is concerned. To date the blog has received numerous comments attacking the government’s filtering plans. According to some reports, live trials of the filtering technology Senator Conroy was discussing are currently taking place, but Internet Service Providers have been given little information about its application. (original article) "Great Aussie Firewall" Causes Internet Censorship Outrage in Australia   The Australian government has come underfire after it announced it will be building a "Great Aussie Firewall", banning some 1,300 web sites from being viewed in Australia. Most of the sites will be child porn, but the list is arbitary. This means the Australian government does not have to reveal it, nor does it face legal scrutiny. There have been protest held in some of Australia's major cities, and critics of the plan say it won't stop child porn. According to Electronic Frontiers Australia, "A filter of this nature only blocks material on public Web sites. But illicit material ... is traded on the black market, through secret channels." (original article)