China creates new office to increase control of Internet

By Trevor Mogg May 4, 2011

The ‘great firewall of China’ has just got a bit greater with the government’s introduction of a new office that will, according to a statement posted Wednesday on its official website, “manage Internet information.”

Up to now, Internet regulation in the country has been conducted by various offices within the government. The creation of the new body, called the State Internet Information Office, brings those offices together to form a single, more effective, agency. Besides improving censorship methods, the office will also oversee the expansion of outside companies into China‘s rapidly growing Internet market.

Related Videos

It will be run by officials from other agencies that already regulate various parts of the Internet. These agencies include the State Council Information Office (responsible for content), the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (regulator of technology and telecommunications areas), and the Ministry of Public Security (responsible for law enforcement). The new State Internet Information Office will be headed by Wang Chen, China’s Information Minister.

Among its many responsibilities, the new body will “direct, coordinate and supervise online content management and handle administrative approval of businesses related to online news reporting.” It will also “direct the development of online gaming, online video and audio businesses and online publication industries.”

In a country where the government already tries hard to control the flow of information in cyberspace, the State Internet Information Office will likely serve to enhance censorship of the Web. The announcement of the new office comes at a time when the Chinese government is concerned about pro-democracy protests happening off the back of those in the Middle East in recent months. Beijing officials will be hoping that effective regulation will ensure better monitoring of any politically sensitive Web traffic, thereby helping to prevent any serious unrest within the country.

In an ominous note to Chinese Web users who are thinking of challenging the system, the statement also says that the new body will “investigate and punish websites violating laws and regulations.”

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Web

Computing

China censors info on U.S. Internet freedom policy

china-flag-thumb

China runs the most extensive firewalling and Internet filtering operation on the planet—dubbed the "Great Firewall" of China—keeping a tight rein on information Chinese citizens can access via the Internet. China has become infamous for blocking access to what it deems disruptive or politically sensitive information…and now that apparently includes Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Reports from China indicate that Chinese censors have blocked posts from the U.S. Embassy highlighting Clinton's recent speech on Internet freedoms, and China's top microblogging service Sina has blocked searches on the terms "Hillary" and "Hillary Clinton" with a message that the search results were blocked due to Chinese laws and regulations.

Clinton's speech elaborated on Internet freedoms as a primary plank of U.S. foreign policy, describing Internet freedoms as a basic human right. In the speech, Clinton said nations like China that stifle their citizen's online speech and expression will pay long-term social and economic costs, including a "dictators' dilemma" of being forced to greater lengths of oppression to maintain control over media and speech. "Those who clamp down on Internet freedom may be able to hold back the full expression of their people's yearnings for a while, but not forever."

Computing

Clinton puts Internet freedom at forefront of U.S. foreign policy

clinton puts internet freedom at forefront of u s foreign policy secretary state hillary feb 2011

In a major foreign policy address, U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton is putting Internet freedoms at the front and center of U.S. foreign policy, citing recent developments in Egypt and Iran as examples of how communications and new technologies can lead to peaceful political transformation. Clinton's remarks are the second time she has emphasized Internet policy has a central part of the U.S. foreign policy platform; the first occasion came in the wake of cyber-attacks targeting Google and other U.S. corporations operating in China.

"There is a debate underway in some circles about whether the Internet is a force for liberation or repression," Clinton wrote in excerpts of her address released early by the State Department. ""History has shown us that repression often sows the seeds for revolution down the road. Those who clamp down on Internet freedom may be able to hold back the full impact of their people's yearnings for a while, but not forever."

Computing

New fiber optic cable will pour data into Internet-starved Cuba

According to Reuters, there will soon be a 1,000 mile, undersea fiber-optic cable connecting Cuba and socialist ally Venezuela. The new technology will eventually help Cuba increase its incredibly slow Internet connection. According to the country, its inferior technology and Internet service is due to the US trade embargo that has been upheld for decades.

Leftist group ALBA (founded by Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez) funded the $70 million cable, which will be connected in July. Cubans have complained that their seriously lacking Internet capabilities have been caused by the government, which is attempting to limit citizens’ access to outside influence and information. Deputy information and communications minister Jorge Luis Perdomo recently claimed there are no political reasons for the technology barriers. At the moment, Cubans only option for an Internet connection is satellite, which is spendy and slow – and it’s reported that only 14 out of every 100 Cubans have even accessed the Web since 2009.