I’ve been with Global Voices Online for just about two and a half months. And it’s made me more conscious of censorship than ever before. Chinese authorities have become famous for building a different kind of a wall over the years. And China’s getting noticed because the firewall has had an impact on even big firms finding it difficult to access websites on harmless News sites.
Rebecca has a comprehensive post on the situation. Here’s what the NY Times on Monday said about the new regulations set out by the Chinese Government.
Major search engines and portals like Sina.com and Sohu.com, used by millions of Chinese each day, must stop posting their own commentary articles and instead make available only opinion pieces generated by government-controlled newspapers and news agencies, the regulations stipulate.
And from the The Register -
The new censorship means any organisation or individual must register with the authorities before providing news or operating an email distribution list. Portal sites are asked to give priority to government-approved copy rather than their own comment pieces, while the regulations also warn government bodies not to provide content to news websites without government permission.
Within this context, it was incredible when RSF announced an excellent handbook for bloggers and cyber-dissidents. And in case you cannot access the site for some reason, we are also hosting copies of the guidebook in English and two documents in Chinese. Go fly the democracy flag!
