Thursday, October 22, 2009
Theres Always Two Sides to a Story
Today many people all over the internet use Wikipedia as a quick reference guide to something they may not know. Recently we learned about the net control that the Chinese government has over its country, and this is another example of such censorship. Wikipedia in China is a hot topic. Like the version that we see here in the United States, Wikipedia serves the same purpose overseas. The only difference is that in China, certain issues or parts of China's history are a little different than the information on the English version of the website.
This article gave a bunch of examples of the differentiated stories that are seen with Wikipedia. One of the examples was that of the accomplishments or catashtrophies of Mao Zedong. In the English version, we see that Mao Zedong was "a mass murderer, holding his leadership accountable for the deaths of tens of millions of innocent Chinese."
When we look at the Chinese version of Wiki, we see that he was "one of the main founders and leaders of the Communist Party of China, the People's Liberation Army and the People's Republic of China ... he had a great influence over 20th-century China and the world."
As we can see the two versions are opposite from one another. You can see that the Chinese version leaves out any information pertaining to him in a negative light. This exemplifies the net control hat China has over it's people.
Labels: Chinese, Net Control, Wikipedia
Wednesday, October 07, 2009
Net Control: Resources for News about Internet Censorship around the World
Here are some of the best online resources for following the news about government censorship and surveillance:
OpenNet Initiative [Read "About ONI"] The ONI Newsreel compiles the latest news about internet censorship and surveillance from around the world.
Reporters Without Borders has an "Internet" page with all of the latest reports of internet censorship.
OpenNet Initiative [Read "About ONI"] The ONI Newsreel compiles the latest news about internet censorship and surveillance from around the world.
Reporters Without Borders has an "Internet" page with all of the latest reports of internet censorship.
Labels: Censorship, Internet, links, Net Control
People's Republic of the Grass Mud Horse?
A video of the "Grass Mud Horse Song" became a big hit in China in January of 2009. Some analysts have interpreted this song as a protest against censorship. According to Michael Wines,
"The grass-mud horse is an example of something that, in China’s authoritarian system, passes as subversive behavior. Conceived as an impish protest against censorship, the foul-named little horse has not merely made government censors look ridiculous, although it has surely done that.
It has also raised real questions about China’s ability to stanch the flow of information over the Internet — a project on which the Chinese government already has expended untold riches, and written countless software algorithms to weed deviant thought from the world’s largest cyber-community."You can read the rest of Michael Wines article here:
Michael Wines, “A Dirty Pun Tweaks China’s Online Censors,” New York Times, March 12, 2009.
Watch “The Song of ‘Grass Mud Horse (草泥马)’" Video (Warning Explicit Captions.)
More articles about the Grass Mud Horse:
Xiao Qiang, "Music Video: The Song of the Grass Mud Horse 《草泥马之歌》" China Digital Times, February 8, 2009.
Oiwan Lam, “China: More on Grass Mud Horse,” Global Voices Online, March 2, 2009.
Oiwan Lam, “China: Goodbye Grass Mud Horse,” Global Voices Online, March 18, 2009.
CNN Report explaining 'Grass Mud Horse' phenomenon, featuring Rebecca MacKinnon
Grass Mud Horse Cartoon Video on YouTube:
Labels: Censorship, China, Grass Mud Horse, Internet, Net Control
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
Net Control: Chinese Internet Censorship
To keep up with the latest news about censorship in China start with the New York Times' Internet Censorship in China
Listen to Jane Macartney reporting from Beijing shortly before the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen square protests: "Chinese censors cut off Twitter, Hotmail and Flickr" (The Times of London, June 3, 2009.)
Rebecca MacKinnon teaches at Hong Kong University and writes about the internet at her blog RConversation. She is a great source for the latest discussion of what is going on in China:
Rebecca MacKinnon, "China's Censorship Arms Race Escalates" (CircleID, September 29, 2009.)
Listen to Jane Macartney reporting from Beijing shortly before the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen square protests: "Chinese censors cut off Twitter, Hotmail and Flickr" (The Times of London, June 3, 2009.)
Rebecca MacKinnon teaches at Hong Kong University and writes about the internet at her blog RConversation. She is a great source for the latest discussion of what is going on in China:
Rebecca MacKinnon, "China's Censorship Arms Race Escalates" (CircleID, September 29, 2009.)
Labels: Censorship, China, Net Control
