Internet Filtering in China in 2004 2005 

f. Extra legal Content Controls 

Content control in China occurs through informal as well as formal measures.  Thus, the Internet 

Society of China pressures content and access providers to agree to a  Public Pledge of Self Regulation 

and Professional Ethics. 

137

  Companies often accede; Yahoo! agreed to the pledge in 2002, and filters 

content available to users at its Chinese language portal.

138

  Internet regulation in China is based on the 

philosophy that  one is responsible for what one publishes. 

139

  Thus, Internet companies in China 

practice a high degree of self censorship.  These companies frequently prefer to focus on sports and 

entertainment rather than risk being shut down.

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  ISPs perform self censorship, including using 

employees who lead teams of volunteers to monitor and moderate chat rooms and bulletin boards.

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China can thus filter content through voluntary, informal measures, as well as via formal legal or 

technological means. 

Users act as an additional regulatory mechanism.  Some citizens view Internet regulation as 

necessary, and monitor Web sites, chat rooms, and bulletin boards for inappropriate content, reporting 

violations to the authorities.

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D. User Rights and Protections 

China's laws and regulations do not generally provide comprehensive rights and protections to 

Internet users.  There is often tension between formal legal rights and those recognized in actual cases.  

For example, consider a right to privacy.  Article 38 of China's Constitution refers to a fundamental right 

of personal dignity, believed by most Chinese legal scholars to incorporate a right of privacy.

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  Article 40 

provides for the freedom and privacy of citizens' communications, and bars other organizations and 

individuals from infringing on those rights.  The same Article, though, contains restrictions on or permits 

deprivation of a citizen's privacy or correspondence rights by public authorities to  meet the needs of state 

security  or  investigate criminal offenses    broad, ambiguous exceptions.  Some of China's legislation 

alludes to a similar right of privacy.  However, Chinese constitutional jurisprudence does not recognize a 

fundamental right of privacy in action. 

Legislation governing Internet users contains the same dichotomy. Certain regulations partially 

recognize a right to privacy. For example, Internet users' personal information is protected against 

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 See Internet Society of China, Public Pledge of Self Regulation and Professional Ethics for China Internet 

Industry, available at http://www.isc.org.cn/20020417/ca102762.htm (July 19, 2002). 

138

 Sumner Lemon, Yahoo Criticized for Curtailing Freedom Online, PC World, Aug. 12, 2002, at 

http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,103865,00.asp. 

139

 Lokman Tsui, Internet in China: Big Mama is Watching You, July 2001, at http://www.lokman.nu/thesis/010717 

thesis.pdf. 

140

 Tsui, Internet in China: Big Mama is Watching You. 

141

 International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development, Review of China's Internet Regulations and 

Domestic Legislation 

142

 Bobson Wong, A Matter of Trust: The Internet and Social Change in China, China Rights Forum, Nov. 3, 2003, at 

http://www.hrichina.org/fs/downloadables/pdf/downloadable resources/Bobson_Wong.pdf?revision_id=10352. 

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 China's Civil Law General Principles protect both personal dignity and the  right of reputation,  and have been 

construed by the Supreme People's Court to include the right to privacy. Most likely, Chinese legal scholars 

extrapolate this conclusion from the relevant SPC decisions. See Privacy Protection in China's Cyberspace, China 

Law & Practice, February 2003. 

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