Internet Censorship in China Research Paper

Internet has become an integral part of social life and now the worldwide network has a considerable impact on the public opinion, worldview of people and their communication. At the same time, some countries attempt to limit the impact of internet or, to put it more precisely, effects and opportunities that internet open for the average users. As a rule, the government attempts to impose regulations and censorship in regard to the internet use out of legal or ethic concerns to protect users from offensive behavior of online predators, for example, or to prevent private information breaches. On the other hand, some governments tend to use internet censorship to prevent social turmoil or the spread of ideas and movements that may threaten to their full control over the political, economic and social life. In this regard, it is possible to refer to the case of China, which is often accused of breaching basic human rights and liberties by limiting the access to internet. However, such a view on Chinese internet censorship policy may be one-sided since Chinese government is also concerned with the protection of users from online offensive behavior of online predators as well as with the protection of national interests. In fact, Chinese government should restrict the internet censorship, because the internet censorship can protect juvenile from violence, pornography, and other kind of delinquencies in China. Chinese internet censorship can put efforts on the national internet security for Chinese government.

Basic information about Chinese internet censorship system.

  • What is internet censorship

In fact, internet censorship involves the limitation of the access of users to certain online resources. As a rule, such resources contain some misappropriate content, which regulators, basically government agencies, ban to protect users from accessing such content. The reason is ethical and legal concerns, like the protection of minors from communicating with online predators or accessing to pornography, for example. The censorship involves the selective ban of access to websites, which contain the information that the government wants to be excluded or not available to citizens on the ground of specific criteria. Each government decides, which content is inappropriate and, therefore, should be banned. The special software helps to track such content and to ban the access of users to this content. Traditionally, it is internet providers, who are responsible for the restriction to access to the censored internet content. If they fail, the government bans their operations.

  • What kind of information is blocking by Chinese censorship system.

In this regard, Chinese government conducts quite restrictive internet censorship policy. In actuality, Chinese government focuses on blocking the content, which is inappropriate for traditional Chinese cultural norms and standards. For example, Chinese censorship system blocks sexually explicit content to prevent the risk of access to pornography websites by minors. The government also tends to block the content, which contains extremely violent behavior or samples of such behavior that may have a negative impact on the audience or that may trigger aggressive and violent behavior of users (Qiu, 1999). The government also tends to restrict or ban the spread of and access to offensive content, which may include the promotion of some religious ideas that may be dangerous for Chinese society, like extreme Islamism. The government insists on the maintenance of tolerance as one of the major goals of Chinese censorship system along with the prevention of offenses of the average online users and negative impact of the internet content on them.

The benefits of Chinese internet censorship.

  • Protect juvenile from delinquencies.

  1. Violence

Chinese internet censorship has multiple positive effects, especially in regard to the youth and children. For example, Chinese internet censorship limits the access of users to violent content that may and does have a positive impact on behavior of juveniles, because they do not grow aggressive because of the violent content, which they could have otherwise accessed online. Many researchers (Goldsmith & Wu, 2006) insist that violent online games and other violent content available online has a negative impact on children and adolescents because they tend to follow models of behavior, which they witness online. As a result, if they see violent behavior patterns online, they may extrapolate those behavior patterns on their real life. Hence, the risk of violent and delinquent behavior of juveniles emerges. In such a situation, Chinese internet censorship has a positive impact because it prevents juveniles from the access to violent content that decreases the risk of their delinquent behavior.

  1. Pornography

Furthermore, Chinese censorship system bans the access to pornography that protects children and adolescents from the access to sexually explicit content. The negative impact of pornography on children is proved by many studies (Lagerkvist, 2010), because pornography can trigger the development of serious problems in the sexual education of children, increase the risk of the early beginning of sexual life, spread of sexually transmitted infections, early pregnancies, as well as the risk of victimization of children by online predators. The ban of access to pornography sites helps to prevent those problems and risk and protects children from sexually explicit content.

  1. Other kind of delinquencies

In addition, Chinese internet censorship protect juveniles from other delinquencies because the ban of content that contains offensive messages that may trigger delinquent behavior helps to minimize the risk of such behavior. If children and adolescents do not have online access to delinquent behavior patterns, they are not likely to develop such behavior patterns (Taubman, 1998). On the contrary, if they can see delinquency online on the regular basis, they may take it for granted. As a result, they start believing that the delinquent behavior is a norm that leads to the growth of crime rates among juveniles.

  • Assist Chinese government to manage the country.

1.National network security

At the same time, Chinese censorship system focuses on the protection of national interests of China online through the maintenance of the national network security. In this regard, censorship is essential to protect the distribution of radical ideas that may push people to civil disobedience and social turmoil (Tai, 2006). For example, some websites may promote the idea of the existing political order that may trigger the decay of China or cause a profound social and political crisis within the country. The ban of such content helps to prevent the crisis.

  1. Religion

Today, religion is another concern of Chinese internet censorship policy because the spread of radical religious movements, such as radical Islamism, may bring a threat of terrorism and radicalization of some social groups in China (Xiang, 2011). Internet censorship minimizes the risk of the fast distribution of such radical religious ideas. In addition, internet censorship helps to protect various religious groups from spreading offensive information. In such a way, the government attempts to maintain the religious tolerance in China.

  1. Political parties and groups

Internet is also an effective tool that may be used by political parties and groups, which may promote destructive ideas, including the idea of separatism, destruction of the existing political order in the violent way, and others. Internet censorship prevents the spread of extremist and revolutionary political parties and groups because they may have a negative impact on Chinese society and threaten national interests of China.

The disadvantages of internet censorship.

  • No freedom of speech (for the public)

On the other hand, there are negative side-effects of internet censorship policy in China. Internet censorship limits the freedom of speech because often it is up to censors to decide which ideas are acceptable and which should be banned ( Xia, 2008). This is why Chinese people cannot always express their ideas freely because, if censors believe their ideas are destructive or dangerous, they will be simply banned. The lack of the public control over censorship makes it a tool of controlling the public opinion and limiting the freedom of speech.

  • No voice from the public (for the government)

In actuality, the total control over Chinese cultural, political, economic, and social life from the part of the Communist Party makes internet censorship a tool of the public control (MacKinnon, 2008). In fact, the government uses internet censorship to ban the voice from the public by banning internet content that does not match the position of Chinese officials. As a result, the public cannot always express or find ideas available online, which do not match the position of the officials or which criticize the policy conducted by Chinese government.

Chinese internet media is still booming

  • The voice of 300 million microbloggers.

Nevertheless, Chinese internet media keep booming. Today, there are over 300 million microbloggers in China, whose voice may be and is heard by the public. The government cannot ignore their position, while internet censorship becomes more and more difficult, especially in regard to the free expression of the public in relation to current policies and situation in China.

Conclusion.

Thus, internet censorship in China is important and effective in terms of the protection of juveniles and the general public from offensive and dangerous online content, like violent content, pornography and other. On the other hand, internet censorship raises the problem of the limitation of the freedom of speech and limits the voice of public. Nevertheless, internet censorship cannot stop the development of internet and ban sharing ideas online but it can minimize the access to offensive content.

 

References:

Goldsmith, J. L.; Wu, T. (2006). Who Controls the Internet?: Illusions of a Borderless World. Oxford University Press.

Lagerkvist, J. (2010). After the Internet, Before Democracy: Competing Norms in Chinese Media and Society. Berlin: Peter Lang.

MacKinnon, R. (2008). “Flatter world and thicker walls? Blogs, censorship and civic discourse in China” Public Choice 134, 31–46.

Qiu, J.L. (1999). Virtual Censorship in China:Keeping the Gate Between the Cyberspaces. International Journal of Communications Law and Policy. 4.

Tai, Z. (2006). The Internet in China: cyberspace and civil society. New York: Routledge

Taubman, G. (1998). ‘A not-so world wide web: the Internet, China, and the challenges to non- democratic rule.’ Political Communication. 15, 255–272.

Xia, B. (May/June 2008). “Google.cn’s Self Censorship.” Chinascope.

Xiang, X. (2011). “The Battle for the Chinese Internet”. Journal of Democracy 22

The terms offer and acceptance. (2016, May 17). Retrieved from

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016.

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

freeessays.club (2016) The terms offer and acceptance [Online].
Available at:

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 28, 2024]
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