Internet Filtering in China in 2004 2005
independent news media,
9
and pro democracy / pro Western commentary.
10
Calls for decreased
censorship are often themselves censored.
11
Journalists who report on unfavorable events or question the
party line are often jailed on fabricated charges meant to discredit them.
12
Additionally, the state actively
suppresses inappropriate material including pornography, sex related information, and obscenity.
13
Methods of circumventing Internet filters and content restrictions are also censored.
14
While China stopped subsidizing newspapers and magazines in 2003, the state still tightly
controls the media sector.
15
Foreign companies cannot invest in newspapers and must enter into
partnerships or licensing agreements with Chinese firms to publish magazines.
16
While the government
generally controls what is published, it is stricter in some areas than others.
17
Journalists and
commentators often cannot know the boundaries for prohibited expression, and the risk of losing their
jobs and facing civil or criminal liability leads to self censorship.
18
B. Internet Infrastructure and Access
According to the most recent study by the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC),
China has 94 million Internet users, nearly half of whom have broadband access.
19
Other studies estimate
130 million users by counting those who do not have a computer in their home but access the Internet
from cybercafes.
20
China has international bandwidth capacity measuring 74,429 megabits per second.
Almost 60 million unique Internet protocol (IP) addresses have been assigned to computers in China.
21
China's Internet regulatory policy authorizes four state organizations now subsumed into the
Ministry of Information Industry (MII) to operate networks connected to the global Internet.
22
The
8
See, e.g., Reporters Sans Frontieres, Reformist Journalists and Intellectuals Punished and Censored, Dec. 3, 2004,
at http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=12008.
9
Zittrain & Edelman, Internet Filtering in China.
10
China's influence extends even to broadcasters outside the state. See, e.g., Reporters Sans Frontieres, Chinese
language NTDTV harassed by Beijing, May 25, 2004, at http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=10439.
11
See, e.g., Reporters Sans Frontieres, Five Resign From Editorial Board in Solidarity With Dismissed Magazine
Editor, Dec. 6, 2004, at http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=11726.
12
He, Media Control in China, at 19.
13
See, e.g. Nation's Fierce Smut Wars Wages Onward, China Daily, at
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005 01/22/content_2494594.htm.
14
Censorware Project, SafeWeb Privacy Proxy Censored in China, Mar. 14, 2001, at
http://censorware.net/article.pl?sid=01/03/14/0755209.
15
Xinhua News Agency, Print Media Reform Involves 2000 Newspapers, 9000 Magazines, China Daily, Nov. 27,
2003, at http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/en/doc/2003 11/27/content_285360.htm.
16
BusinessWeek Magazine, Foreign Magazines Facing China's Newsstand Fever, China Daily, Nov. 5, 2003, at
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/en/doc/2003 11/05/content_278774.htm.
17
Economist Intelligence Unit, Country Profile 2005: China at 29
18
He, Media Control in China.
19
China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), 15
th
Statistical Survey Report on the Internet Development in
China, January 2005, at http://www.cnnic.net.cn/download/2005/2005012701.pdf.
20
Net User Tally in China Nears 134m, South China Morning Post, Feb. 4, 2005, at
http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=20477.
21
CNNIC, 15
th
Statistical Survey Report on the Internet Development in China.
22
Asian Technology Information Program, Report ATIP98.090: The Internet In China, Nov. 3, 1998, at
http://www.atip.org/public/atip.reports.98/atip98.090r.html.
5