Authorities in the capital to set up pilot team of 10,000 new censors
Vivian Wu 18 June 2009
The Beijing municipal government is to experiment with a new model of internet control that will see a team of 10,000 “freelance” censors monitor “unhealthy” Web content and name registration.
Deputy Mayor Cai Fuchao , also head of the municipal propaganda department, said the capital would implement a series of internet monitoring measures in an effort “to purify the internet environment”, the Beijing News reported yesterday.
Mr. Cai was quoted as saying the city would set up a database of the existing 370,000 Beijing-registered websites. Real name registration of website owners, editors and administrators would also be implemented.
According to the Beijing Internet Administration Office, the team of at least 10,000 would be in place by the end of the year.
It is not known whether the freelance censors will be paid, but industry insiders suggested they may receive benefits or incentives from their employers or organisations - for example, extra credit in their annual performance assessment.
They will be registered with the semi-official Beijing Association of Online Media, which will co-ordinate their work. When they spot offending content they will report it to police, and censorship authorities can delete it immediately.
Min Dahong, the head of the association, said this approach had in fact been around for a while and “has played an effective role in cracking down on unhealthy material spreading on the internet”.
“In the past, censors had a list of people we called ‘volunteers’ from various organisations. They regularly monitor websites for police and regulators, and report immediately if they find any unhealthy content,” Mr. Min said.
“China has a whole system to control the internet: website licence authorisation, regulatory approaches, content control within major websites, monitoring and punishment of violators.”
The move to formalise the role of the “volunteers” is in keeping with the increasingly sophisticated censorship approach on the mainland, where authorities no longer rely solely on firewalls to block information and instead actively drain off critical public opinion.
Wen Yunchao , a respected blogger on internet affairs, described the move as a “typical use of a mass of pro-government people to fight against another group that challenges or criticises the authorities”.
“But this time, the Beijing government is taking a more sophisticated approach by including public staff in the monitoring process, which will make it more systematic and frequent”, he said.
Mr. Wen said that in recent years, censorship authorities had recruited people to “write articles on popular chat rooms to fabricate public opinion in social events, when many other people were criticising or challenging the government”.
1 comment:
‘Freelance army’ to help police Web in Beijing
Authorities in the capital to set up pilot team of 10,000 new censors
Vivian Wu
18 June 2009
The Beijing municipal government is to experiment with a new model of internet control that will see a team of 10,000 “freelance” censors monitor “unhealthy” Web content and name registration.
Deputy Mayor Cai Fuchao , also head of the municipal propaganda department, said the capital would implement a series of internet monitoring measures in an effort “to purify the internet environment”, the Beijing News reported yesterday.
Mr. Cai was quoted as saying the city would set up a database of the existing 370,000 Beijing-registered websites. Real name registration of website owners, editors and administrators would also be implemented.
According to the Beijing Internet Administration Office, the team of at least 10,000 would be in place by the end of the year.
It is not known whether the freelance censors will be paid, but industry insiders suggested they may receive benefits or incentives from their employers or organisations - for example, extra credit in their annual performance assessment.
They will be registered with the semi-official Beijing Association of Online Media, which will co-ordinate their work. When they spot offending content they will report it to police, and censorship authorities can delete it immediately.
Min Dahong, the head of the association, said this approach had in fact been around for a while and “has played an effective role in cracking down on unhealthy material spreading on the internet”.
“In the past, censors had a list of people we called ‘volunteers’ from various organisations. They regularly monitor websites for police and regulators, and report immediately if they find any unhealthy content,” Mr. Min said.
“China has a whole system to control the internet: website licence authorisation, regulatory approaches, content control within major websites, monitoring and punishment of violators.”
The move to formalise the role of the “volunteers” is in keeping with the increasingly sophisticated censorship approach on the mainland, where authorities no longer rely solely on firewalls to block information and instead actively drain off critical public opinion.
Wen Yunchao , a respected blogger on internet affairs, described the move as a “typical use of a mass of pro-government people to fight against another group that challenges or criticises the authorities”.
“But this time, the Beijing government is taking a more sophisticated approach by including public staff in the monitoring process, which will make it more systematic and frequent”, he said.
Mr. Wen said that in recent years, censorship authorities had recruited people to “write articles on popular chat rooms to fabricate public opinion in social events, when many other people were criticising or challenging the government”.
Post a Comment