Filtering in China
The study Internet Filtering in China in 2004-2005 is a very interesting analysis into China's online filtering habits.
What I find very interesting is the lack of transparency that the filtering has. According to the study "the state does not generally admit to censoring Internet content, and concomitantly there is no list of banned sites and no ability for citizens to request reconsideration of blocking, as some other states that filter provide." While topics are described as sensitive or prohibited, the legal code is non-specific. As broad as the code is there are laws which prohibit citizens from testing the boundaries. As such there is also a "ban on spreading state secrets to discourage" the practice.
In China the government legally has the ability to control what users can see and what they can share with other Internet users. It was very interesting just to browse the list of accessible and non-accessible URLs according to the study. Sites that deal with the democratization of China and even certain pages that link from Yale's Web site can not be accessed. It truly is amazing what people can and what they cannot see.
What I find very interesting is the lack of transparency that the filtering has. According to the study "the state does not generally admit to censoring Internet content, and concomitantly there is no list of banned sites and no ability for citizens to request reconsideration of blocking, as some other states that filter provide." While topics are described as sensitive or prohibited, the legal code is non-specific. As broad as the code is there are laws which prohibit citizens from testing the boundaries. As such there is also a "ban on spreading state secrets to discourage" the practice.
In China the government legally has the ability to control what users can see and what they can share with other Internet users. It was very interesting just to browse the list of accessible and non-accessible URLs according to the study. Sites that deal with the democratization of China and even certain pages that link from Yale's Web site can not be accessed. It truly is amazing what people can and what they cannot see.
