There Will Be Some Regulatory Turbulence. Though the Internet poses a further threat to the Communist Party s control of information, the Beijing leadership cannot afford the economic cost of trying to stifle this new medium. The Internet will be allowed to flower though there will be some regulatory turbulence. Beijing is still grappling with how best to control the Internet and undesirable content distributed through it without undercutting that economic value, the panelists said. It is experimenting with direct censorship by blocking sites pornography, but also those political in nature but this is proving difficult given the sheer volume of new material.
China treats the Internet as another form of media.
He added that he has learned in discussions with government officials that Chinese Web sites will soon also be allowed to report their own news, as opposed to being required only to use news generated by government-licensed news providers. The Internet s impact on all aspects of business in China will be profound, the panelists said, though its full benefits will take time to be realized. But they know that the SOE s problems won t be solved by the Internet. Mr. Wu said. But given the complex, high-stakes politics inherent in such fundamental reform, actual compliance with WTO standards will take time.