Internet Development and Information Control in the People's Republic of China
Released: 2006-02-10T00:00:00

Internet Development and Use in China(3)

In the early stages of its development, the Internet presented a challenge to Chinesegovernment control over information flows and public opinion. In pursuit of economic growth andmodernization, however, the government actively promoted Internet development. Because it issubject to PRC censorship, yet continues to spread news across national borders, the Internet hasplayed a role in bringing international attention to issues forbidden in China, including PRCcensorship itself.

Since the country's first connection in 1993, the Internet has experienced exponential growthin China. (4) According toPRC data, the number of Internet users in China (not including Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan),which has the second largest Internet population in the world, reached 111 million in 2005. (5) An official report also findsthat over half of the users have broadband access (51%), 55% have a college degree, 60% are male,and 71% are young (under age 30). (6) Another study estimates that there are currently up to 134 millionChinese Internet users, approximately a fivefold increase from 23 million in 2001. (7) Although 103 million or 134million would account for only 8% or 10% of China's population, respectively, Internet usage isexpected to rise as China continues to promote Internet development and enjoy rapid economicgrowth.

As in the United States, the Internet has already transformed the daily lives of many peoplein China. Chinese citizens are able to use the Internet to communicate with others, findentertainment, engage in commercial activities, obtain government services, access a wide varietyof cultural, social, and academic information, and, for some users, learn about or discuss sensitivepolitical news, if only fleetingly. (8) Despite censorship of news, the Internet in China oftendisseminates forbidden information and opinions through e-mail, instant messaging, blogs, andbulletin board forums or through political expressions disguised as non-political comments. However, nearly all such communications are eventually censored and offending texts are deletedby PRC authorities. (9) Chinese studies have found that the majority of Internet users in China use the Internet forentertainment purposes. (10) Notwithstanding, the PRC government strictly controls news andpolitical content online, which has drawn the attention and criticism of many analysts and U.S.policymakers.

Censorship and Content Control of the Internet

During the early days of the Internet in China, some observers hoped that greater access toinformation brought about by this new technology would also encourage political expression anddemocracy in China. Although there has been a documented expansion in the scope of permissibleprivate speech in recent years, the Chinese government has also intensified efforts to monitor andcontrol use of the Internet and wireless technologies (e.g. cellular phones). (11)

An often cited empirical study by the OpenNet Initiative (a collaboration between HarvardLaw School, University of Toronto Citizen Lab, and Cambridge Security Program) found that Chinahas the most sophisticated content-filtering Internet regime in the world. (12) Compared to similarefforts in other countries, the Chinese government effectively filters content by employing multiplemethods of regulation and technical controls. The PRC-sponsored news agency, Xinhua, stated thatcensorship targets "superstitious, pornographic, violence-related, gambling and other harmfulinformation." (13) However, many observers are concerned about the pervasive filtering of any content that theCommunist Party of China views as politically objectionable. Informational websites, including thatof the BBC, Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, and the public encyclopedia, Wikipedia, have beenregularly blocked in China, while other news sources, such as the New York Times , the WashingtonPost , the South China Morning Post (Hong Kong) , and CNN have been intermittently blocked. (14) Sites that carry news inChinese language generally face greater censorship obstacles than English-only sites.

In addition to censorship of news reports that may present the government in a negative light,the Internet is used to channel and influence public opinion, especially in support of nationalisticsentiments. The People's Daily , a state-sponsored newspaper, has an online bulletin board calledthe "Strong Nation Forum," intended for discussion on how to make China a stronger nation. Theforum hosted angry anti-Japanese postings in April 2005, during a political fallout between Chinaand Japan concerning Japan's alleged re-writing of wartime atrocities in its history textbooks. (15)

Earlier that year, however, when users visited the forum to mourn the death of formerCommunist Party General Secretary Zhao Ziyang, moderators promptly removed messages ofcondolence. Zhao had been stripped of his government position in 1989 largely for sympathizingwith Tiananmen student protesters, and was placed under house arrest. His death in 2005 receivedonly muted attention in the national media, reflecting the government's fear of renewing public callsfor a reversal of the official verdict on the Tiananmen demonstrations and the rehabilitation of thosecondemned during the crackdown. (16)

Methods of PRC Internet Censorship and Content Control

In order to suppress politically sensitive or undesirable content online, the PRC has adoptedtwo main strategies. First, the Chinese government employs a complex system of regulations,surveillance, and punitive action to promote self-censorship among the public. Second, thegovernment uses technology and human monitors to physically filter unwanted content.

Legal Regulations

Since the commercialization of the Internet in 1995, the PRC government has issuedextensive regulations regarding Internet usage. Because these regulations often overlap, are regularlyupdated, and are created and carried out by multiple government agencies, the legal infrastructureregarding Internet usage in China is extraordinarily complex. At least 12 different governmentagencies are involved in Internet regulation, which are directed at Internet service and contentproviders, cyber-cafÃ© operators, and Internet users themselves. (17)

Internet service providers (ISPs) must obtain an operating license from the Ministry ofInformation Industry (MII) and record each customer's account number, phone number, IP address,sites visited, and time spent online. Internet content providers (ICPs) that publish information,operate electronic bulletin boards, or engage in journalism must record all content made availableand the date it was issued. For both service and content providers, these records must be maintainedfor 60 days and surrendered to relevant government agencies upon request. (18) After obtaining permissionto open an Internet cafÃ©, cafÃ© operators are required to install software that blocks pornographic and"subversive" content, keep detailed logs linking users to the pages they visited and record visits toany blocked pages, and report these to the Public Security Bureau. (19) As with ISPs and ICPs,cafes must retain this information for 60 days. PRC authorities reportedly closed 47,000 unlicensedInternet cafes in 2004 while installing monitoring software in others. (20)

In addition to regulations directed at Internet service and content providers, this complex legal infrastructure is also extended to Internet users themselves. The Ministry of Public Securitytook initial steps to control Internet use in 1997 when it issued comprehensive regulations governinginternet use. Selected portions of three key sections, Articles 4-6, are presented here:

Individuals are prohibited from using the Internet to: harm national security; disclose state secrets; or injure the interests of the state or society [4]. Usersare prohibited from using the Internet to create, replicate, retrieve, or transmit information thatincites resistance to the PRC Constitution, laws, or administrative regulations; promotes theoverthrow of the government or socialist system; undermines national unification; distorts the truth,spreads rumors, or destroys social order; or provides sexually suggestive material or encouragesgambling, violence, or murder [ 5]. Users are prohibited from engaging in activities that harm thesecurity of computer information networks and from using networks or changing network resourceswithout prior approval [6]. (21)

September 25, 2005 Regulations. On July 1,2005, Chinese authorities shut down thousands of websites that had not registered with thegovernment. Following this stringent measure, in September 2005, the PRC State Council and theMII announced new rules regarding the administration of the Internet. These new rules formalizedinterim provisions enacted in 2000, which established general Internet content regulations and amandatory system of licensing and registration for those engaged in "Internet informationservices." (22)

In addition to combining and clarifying earlier provisions, the new rules both tighten controlover online news services and define them more broadly. They stipulate that private individuals orgroups must register as "news organizations" before they can operate websites or e-mail distributionlists that spread news or commentary. Because a news organization is required to employexperienced staff, have registered premises, capital, and a transparent system of operation wherebywritings can be attributed, approval will likely be difficult for many individuals and privategroups. (23) Websites andpopular Internet portals such as Sina.com or Sohu.com must publish only news items, withoutcommentary, even though commentary is often a staple of Web-logs, or "blogs." (24) According to the PRCnews agency, Xinhua, electronic bulletin board systems (BBS) and cell-phone text messages thatcontain news content are also subject to these regulations. (25) In addition, two new stipulations indicate increased Communistgovernment concerns about civil unrest. The first bans Internet news services from inciting illegalassemblies, marches and demonstrations; the other prohibits activity on behalf of illegal civilgroups. (26)

The complex legal infrastructure governing Internet usage in China also includes punitivemeasures for those who violate the regulations. Under the September 2005 rules, websites thatdistribute news without government authorization are under the threat of closure and fines of up to30,000 yuan (US$3,700). (27) Similar penalties and fees exist for website operators who failto register with the government, and, in serious cases, their network access would be terminated. However, some Internet portals or websites reportedly often drag their feet when complying withofficial censorship directives in order to attract or maintain market share. (28)

Technical Methods of Content Filtering

China censors the Internet through website blocking and key word filtering, primarily at therouter level. Routers are devices through which packets of data are directed until they reach theirfinal destination. In China, routers are programmed to channel Uniform Resource Locators (URLs)through proxy servers, which look for politically sensitive words such as "falun" (as in"www.faluninfo.net" of the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement), and send back an error message(e.g., "file not found") to the Internet user who requested the page. Internet search results aresimilarly blocked. For example, although the phrase "Taiwan independence," may not be part of awebsite URL, entering this phrase into a search engine would result in a URL followed by thosewords (i.e., http://www.google.com/search?Taiwan+Independence), which would trigger the routerto filter and block the search results. (29) The OpenNet Initiative found that China tolerates occasionalover-blocking as the price of preventing access to prohibited sites. (30)

Cyber-Police, Punitive Action, and Self-Censorship

For those websites that bypass automated filtering, China's Ministry of Public Security (MPS)reportedly employs 30,000 human monitors, or "cyber-police," to monitor Internet content. (31) This cyber-police force,established in 2000, operates as a division within the police departments of 700 cities and provincesin China. Along with investigating online crimes, such as spreading viruses, pornography, orattempting financial fraud, the cyber-police monitor websites and e-mail content and removeobjectionable or subversive material. (32)

In addition to an established Internet police force, the Chinese government solicits help fromcitizens themselves to monitor Internet content. In July 2004, the MPS established a network ofonline reporting centers accompanied by a rewards component that encourages citizens to report"illegal" or "harmful" information. (33) Xinhua News Agency disclosed that by October 2004, 50citizens were rewarded 500-2,000 yuan ($62-$247) for reporting pornography and 18 citizens wererewarded 3,000 to 10,000 yuan ($370-$1,235) for reporting illegal online gambling. AlthoughXinhua did not disclose statistics for citizens who reported "subversive" political content, theguidelines on the cyber-police website state that citizen vigilance should not be limited to reportingpornography, but should extend to online political activities as well. (34)

China reportedly holds between 15 and 54 "cyber dissidents" in prison for posting messagesor articles on the Internet that were considered subversive. (35) Amnesty Internationalstated that some cyber dissidents were charged with revealing state secrets or endangering statesecurity and received prison sentences of two to twelve years. (36) Although the governmentgenerally does not prosecute citizens who receive dissident e-mail publications, forwarding suchmessages sometimes results in detention. The detainment of Internet political writers reflects Chineserepression of free media in general; according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, in 2005, 32journalists were imprisoned in the PRC. (37) Since prohibited topics such as "state secrets" have not beenclearly defined by PRC authorities, many reporters, writers, and Internet users exerciseself-censorship to avoid the risk of losing their jobs or facing criminal liability. (38)

U.S. Private Sector Involvement in PRC Internet Censorship

Within the United States, there has been considerable discussion surrounding the allegedcomplicity of private U.S. companies in the development and maintenance of PRC Internet filtering. Some contend that when presented with large profit potential, U.S. corporations are willing tooverlook violations of freedom of expression in China. Others argue that, despite problems withcensorship regarding a limited number of topics, U.S. investment in China's Internet industry has ledto the greater flow of global information in the country.

Some analysts suggest that China's sophisticated Internet infrastructure would not be possiblewithout technology and equipment imported from U.S. and other foreign companies. For China'slatest network upgrade, "CN2," which began in mid-2004, two U.S. companies, Cisco Systems andJuniper Networks, were granted four out of six contracts. Cisco Systems, a U.S. telecommunicationsequipment company, has previously faced allegations that it assisted China in developing censorshipcapabilities. (39) In itsrecent router contract for CN2, Cisco will provide China with its 12000 Series routers, which areequipped with filtering capability typically used to prevent Internet attacks (i.e., worms and viruses). This technology can also be used by PRC authorities to block politically sensitive content. (40) Derek Bambauer, aresearcher at the OpenNet Initiative, believes that without this upgrade, routers in China are notsearching deeply within packets of data for banned keywords, because it would put an enormous loadon the routers. Some contend that Cisco routers and the CN2 network upgrade may enable Chineseauthorities to employ more sophisticated keyword filtering. (41) Cisco denies allegationsthat it has altered its products to suit the objectives of PRC cyber-policing. Cisco has declared thatit does not tailor its products to the China market, and the products it sells in China are the same asthose in other countries. (42)

In addition to U.S. companies, such as Cisco, that provide hardware, a number of U.S.software and Internet service providers, such as Yahoo and Microsoft, have been accused ofcomplying with censorship in China. (43) In 2002, Yahoo was condemned by human rights groups forvoluntarily signing a pledge of "self-discipline," promising to follow China's censorship laws. InJune 2005, Microsoft's blog-hosting service, MSN Spaces, began removing words like "democracy"and "human rights" from use in Chinese blog titles and postings. (44) In December 2005, humanrights activists criticized Microsoft after the company, at the PRC government's behest, removed theMSN Spaces Web log of a well-known Chinese journalist, Zhao Jing. Zhao, who worked for theBeijing Bureau of the New York Times , occasionally broached sensitive political topics on his blog,such as a recent strike at a city newspaper. In January 2006, Microsoft announced a new policy forforeign countries whereby the company would close personal Web logs only if presented with alegally-binding order, inform its users of the reason for the removal, and continue to make such blogsaccessible in other countries. (45)

In January 2006, Google announced that it would launch a search engine in China. Google'sU.S.-based site currently is the second-most popular search engine in China, despite the PRCgovernment's occasional blocking of it, with an estimated 23% share of the market, after the ChineseInternet content provider Baidu (37%) and followed closely by Yahoo (21%). Google will not offere-mail or blog services in China in order to avoid the possibility of having to divulge private Internetuser information to the PRC government. Google reportedly will comply with PRC laws regardingcensorship of information deemed inappropriate or illegal, but plans to disclose when suchinformation was removed for censorship purposes. (46) Paris-based Reporters without Borders reacted to the Googleannouncement by stating that "it was a black day for freedom of expression in China." (47)

Other U.S. companies, such as Secure Computing, Fortinet, and Websense, have also beenaccused of aiding China's Internet filtering capabilities, but the evidence currently available does notappear to indicate their direct involvement in the PRC government's national censorship system. In2004, Secure Computing, which makes Internet filtering software, sold authentication systems, oruser identification systems, to China's major telecommunications companies. Fortinet sellsanti-virus firewall technology to Internet, governmental, educational, retail, and foreign businessinstitutions and establishments in China. Websense reportedly provides Web filtering andmonitoring software to Chinese companies. Websense spokespersons have stated that the companyhas not licensed the PRC government to use its technology to censor personal Internet access andthat it would decline to sell its products to the PRC government if they would be used for nationwidecensorship purposes. (48)

Yahoo and Shi Tao Case. Yahoo has come underfire for giving the personal e-mail address of a Chinese journalist, Shi Tao, to PRC governmentauthorities, which led to his criminal conviction and sentence of 10 years in prison. In April 2004,Shi, who was an editor at Contemporary Business News based in Hunan province, attended aneditorial meeting in which government officials read an internal document outlining mediarestrictions before the 15th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown in June 2004. Shisent copies of his notes via his personal Yahoo e-mail account to a pro-democracy organization inthe United States. PRC state security authorities later requested information from Yahoo thatenabled them to identify Shi and use it in his conviction. Jerry Yang, co-founder and seniorexecutive of Yahoo, confirmed that his company gave Chinese authorities information and describedthe company's compliance as part of the legal burden of doing business in China. (49)

U.S. Government Efforts to Promote Unrestricted Internet Access in China

Some U.S. officials have expressed their belief that the growth of the Internet and otherinformation technologies will help bring about wide-scale democratization abroad. Former U.S.Secretaries of State James A. Baker and Madeleine Albright are quoted as supporting informationtechnologies in foreign countries as a way to promote their eventual democratization. (50) U.S. Secretary of DefenseDonald Rumsfeld has also made statements on the importance of political freedoms in China: "Every society has to be vigilant against another type of Great Wall ... a wall that limits speech,information, and choices." (51) The State Department has censured the Chinese government byincluding an explanation of the PRC's media and Internet controls and related persecution of politicaldissidents in its annual human rights report. (52) However, aside from diplomatic rebukes of China's restrictionson freedom expression, U.S. actions to combat Internet censorship in China have primarily been inthe form of funding for anti-censorship software.

Congressional Action

In the 108th Congress, Representatives Christopher Cox and Tom Lantos and other Membersintroduced The Global Internet Freedom Act ( H.R. 48 ), a bill to establish an Office ofGlobal Internet Freedom and to develop and implement strategies to combat state-sponsored Internetjamming and persecution of those who use the Internet. In the 109th Congress, Representative Coxreintroduced the Global Internet Freedom Act as H.R. 2216 . The bill was referred tothe House Committee on International Relations. On February 1, 2006, the Congressional HumanRights Caucus held a hearing entitled, "Human Rights and the Internet -- The People's Republic ofChina." On February 15, 2006, the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and InternationalOperations of the House International Relations Committee will hold a joint hearing with theSubcommittee on Asia and the Pacific regarding the Internet and censorship in China.

International Broadcasting Bureau. The U.S.Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), which oversees the International Broadcasting Bureau(IBB), has promoted Internet freedom in China by focusing on its Voice of America (VOA) andRadio Free Asia (RFA) websites, which are regularly blocked by Chinese authorities. In 2001, theBBG provided $100,000 to Safeweb Inc., a government contracted company that also had beenbriefly funded by the CIA, to set up proxy servers to help Chinese Internet users access prohibitedinformation. (53) However, within a year, Safeweb's technology was reportedly unsuccessful in protecting useridentities. (54)

Since 2003, the BBG has funded Dynamic Internet Technology (DynaWeb) and UltraReach,which have each developed software to enable Chinese Internet users to access VOA and RFAwebsites (see Table 1 ). Funding for these Chinese programs constitutes about three-fourths of theBBG's global anti-jamming expenditures, which are expected to grow by about 28% in 2006 fromthe previous year. DynaWeb's website is difficult to block because of "anonymizing" technologythat regularly changes its numerical Internet Protocol (IP) address. Dynaweb president, Bill Xia,disclosed that earlier efforts to provide Chinese Internet users with unblocked IP addresses throughan e-mail subscription service had failed because censors had also subscribed to the service, andquickly blocked those sites as well. (55) According to Xia, DynaWeb must evolve according to howChina censors the Internet, and that "both parties can always implement new technologies to stayahead and sustain the advantage." However, in testimony before the Congressional-ExecutiveCommission on China, Xia stated that censors have a "brighter future," because China purchases themost advanced censorship technology from Western companies and has more resources thancounter-censorship efforts in the United States. (56)

Table 1. Broadcasting Board of Governors Funding forCounter-Censorship Technology in China

Source: Broadcasting Board of Governors.

As of April 2005, Dynamic's homepage was viewed about 90,000 times per day, whileUltraReach allows approximately 4,000 visits and 30,000 page views for VOA and 2,600 visits and28,000 page views for RFA daily. (57) Visits to these sites reportedly rise when PRC censorshiptightens, such as during the SARS outbreak of 2003. The BBG disseminates Chinese-language newssummaries, some of which contain critical opinions or stories about China, to recipients in China viae-mail. These e-mails employ techniques that circumvent censorship and include IP addresses ofproxy servers through which users may view VOA and RFA reports. (58)

Some U.S. companies are developing software for Chinese Internet users to circumvent thePRC government censorship firewall entirely. In February 2006, Anonymizer Inc., a company thatspecializes in identity protection technology, announced that it was developing anti-censorshipsoftware for Internet users in the PRC. Anonymizer's China program would provide a regularlychanging URL which Chinese Internet users could access for unfettered links to the World WideWeb. According to the company, users' identities would also be protected from online tracking andmonitoring by the PRC government. Peacefire, a free speech advocacy organization and website,has developed protocols for circumventing Internet blocking programs that can be used by ChineseWeb users. (59)

Issues for U.S. Policy

Human rights organizations, U.S. government officials, U.S. Internet companies, and expertson the development of the Internet and censorship in China have made wide-rangingrecommendations for expanding Internet freedom in China. These policy suggestions includeenacting legal prohibitions on U.S. companies that would aid PRC government censorship efforts;creating U.S. governmental institutions for promoting global Internet freedom; funding thedevelopment of counter-censorship technologies; applying greater pressure at thegovernment-to-government level; and establishing codes of conduct for U.S. Internet companies inChina that promote free expression within the confines of PRC political and business realities.

Some analysts recommend making laws that would prohibit U.S. companies from locatingtheir servers, offering e-mail services, or selling surveillance and filtering technology in countrieswith repressive regimes such as China. The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commissionadvocates the creation of an executive branch office that would monitor global Internet censorshipand promote the development of anti-censorship technology. (60) In its annual report for2005, the Congressional-Executive Commission on China recommended that Congress shouldappropriate funds to support technologies that would help Chinese citizens access Internet-basedinformation that is officially censored. Some U.S. Internet companies in China argue that their ownefforts to resist PRC government demands to comply with censorship norms would be enhanced byhigher profile U.S. government pressure on the Chinese government. U.S. Internet companies inChina reportedly are also considering how to develop common responses that would attempt to strikea balance between promoting free expression or protesting censorship and operating within anauthoritarian political system. For example, some U.S. Internet companies have announced policiesof informing users when content is unavailable due to government censorship restrictions anddemanding that PRC authorities provide clear legal bases for complying with Chinese governmentdemands regarding censorship and the investigation of Internet users. (61)

Some observers hold that there needs to be more demand from Chinese people themselvesto obtain uncensored information. They posit that if demand for free information is great enoughfrom within China, the government will be more inclined to loosen its grip on Internet informationcontrols. (62) When thepopular search engine, Google, was blocked in 2002, some observers believe that the Chinesegovernment gave into pressure and lifted the block after only 10 days because of the flood ofcomplaints received from Chinese researchers and Internet users. (63)