From the Great Firewall to the Myanmar Wide Web, Asia is well-known for its practices in Internet filtering. China has long taken the lead in blocking Web sites, filtering sites across the spectrum - from social to political content, pornography to Internet tools. The OpenNet Initiative (full disclosure: I'm involved) has been studying the Internet in Asia and around the world since 2002, and has just released its latest reports on Internet surveillance and controls in Asia, and specifically in China.

New research from the OpenNet Initiative (ONI) reveals accelerating restrictions on Internet content as Asian governments shift to next generation controls. These new techniques go beyond blocking access to websites and are more informal and fluid, implemented at edges of the network, and are often backed up by increasingly restrictive and broadly interpreted laws.

According to an recent ONI press release:

“Since 2006, many Asian governments have quickly realized the potential benefits of exploiting opportunities for conducting propaganda or public relations strategies over the Internet, even while cracking down on independent and critical voices thriving in these online spaces- an example of the evolution towards next generation controls,” said Ron Deibert, director of the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto and one of four principal investigators at the ONI.

These controls were evidenced recently in ONI's analysis of China's latest attempt at controlling the flow of information, Green Dam Youth Escort filtering software mandated for pre-installation on PCs sold in China starting July 1. “However, even China's example demonstrates that restrictions on information are far from uniformly effective, and will meet resistance and be contested by the very groups they are intended to silence,” said Rafal Rohozinski, CEO of the SecDev Group and co-founder and principal investigator of ONI and ONI Asia.

The reports for Asia, as well as Burma, China, Pakistan, and South Korea will be featured in a forthcoming MIT Press volume, Access Controlled: The Shaping of Rights, Rule, and Power in Cyberspace, to be published by MIT Press (2010). Access Controlled will include a series of analytical chapters and regional overviews that contribute to the developing discourse around global Internet regulation and censorship raised in the first ONI volume Access Denied: The Practice and Policy of Global Internet Filtering, (Cambridge: MIT Press) 2008. ]]> http://advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org/2009/06/17/opennet-initiative-releases-results-on-filtering-in-asia/feed/ 0 http://advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org/2009/04/27/info-rhizome-report-on-independent-media-in-the-chinese-speaking-world/ http://advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org/2009/04/27/info-rhizome-report-on-independent-media-in-the-chinese-speaking-world/#comments Mon, 27 Apr 2009 07:28:13 +0000 Oiwan Lam http://advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org/?p=1101

I have just announced the launching of Info-Rhizome: Report on Independent Media in the Chinese-speaking World at interlocals.net. Individual can download free copy from here.

The book is consisted of reports on the development of independent media in four regions: China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Taiwan, with special focus on regulation and control and citizen initiatives in counteracting information manipulation and media monopoly. Below a some quotes taken from our introduction:

Hu Yong: Audience revolt is a consequence of a legitimacy crisis in journalism… We thus see the emergence of new and decentralised forms of citizen engagement in government monitoring, political discussion, and agenda framing. In a word, “the previous audiences” have now become potential contributors to political dialogue, and potential actors, in the political scene.

Rebecca MacKinnon: How can independent media communities a across the Chinese-speaking world share experiences, support, and promote one another? …Will Asia's Chinese-language independent media largely focus inwards on their local communities and polities? Or can some transcend the nation-state and bring together various like-minded Chinese-speaking communities formed around interests or beliefs? What will then be the implications?

Feng Chien-san: In order to proclaim our media independent and alternative, we first need to equip ourselves with the spirit of Sisyphus and believe that, one day, we too will reclaim the sea and move the mountain. At the same time, we need to be prepared to penetrate the mainstream through both guerrilla and regular warfare, hand-in-hand like Ying and Yang, in both dream and in reality.

More information can be found here. All revenue generated from this book will be used to sustain interlocals.net and research publication on media activism. So you may consider ordering a printed copy for your affiliating organizations or institution to support the work.

At present, the Hong Kong government adopts a complaint-driven approach to deal with obscene or indecent Internet content. The administrative body, Television and entertainment License Authority (TELA), would issue warning to local ISPs and OSPs for adding warning message or taking down indecent materials, while for obscene articles, it would hand over the case to the police.

In the government's consultation paper, it is stated that:

Given the emergence of new forms of media, particularly the growing popularity of the Internet, members of the public consider it important that measures are taken to protect youngsters from the dissemination of obscene and indecent materials on such new media systems.

In the consultation paper, suggestions include:

1. making it a legislative requirement for ISPs to provide filtering software;
2. tightening statutory controls, for example, web users are required to input their credit card data before getting access to webpage containing indecent materials to ensure that they have attained the age of 18;
3. regulating P2P communication.

The consultation has stirred up strong reactions from ISPs, OSPs and active internet users. ISPs pointed out that mandatory filtering service would increase the cost of ISPs service and suggested client's end filtering software instead.

OSPs, are worried that the implementation of the highly arbitrary categorization system on the internet would affect freedom of speech, especially on issues related with sex, gay and lesbian, vulgar expression for criticizing politics, etc. Moreover, the enforcement of the COIAO may open the path for application of more regulations on the Internet, such as Association Ordinance and Public Order Ordinance and the future National Security related set of law (article 23).

The P2P monitor will also violate internet users' privacy, as there is no way for the the users to check how their data would be used (similar to the case of the private data detention of the TOM skype in mainland China). They also demand the government to set up a mechanism for monitoring the abuse of private filters as organizations, like Nutongxueshe finds out that the existing private filters have filtered away websites that actively discuss the COIAO because they contain too many “sensitive words”, such as “sex”.

The moral debate within the society is very tense. As conservative Christian rights consider any form of nudity and sexual intimacy be classified as indecent (require warning messages and for 18 or above only) as it would induce “sinful thought” to youth and insist the exposure of sexual organ, explicit sex and non-heterosexual sexual behavior as obscene (have to be banned for distribution to all), they have launched campaign to push the government for imposing mandatory filtering service at ISPs level and banning the distribution of indecent articles to youth (under 18) and obscene article (to all, including adult). They mobilize responses via weekly sermon, Christian schools, social service organizations, etc. On the other hand, the liberal sector of the population call for a more open-minded attitude towards sex-related content and tolerance towards sexual minorities. Many suggest to adopt the “harm principle” rather than “moral principle” for banning articles. And they mobilize via facebook (e.g 1, please concern about the COIAO and 2, please don't impose your value onto others) and internet platform (such as the anti-censorship special page at inmediahk).

Moreover, human rights, media and progressive civic sector suggest to add human rights and free expression principle to the classification system, giving exemption to arts, literature, religion, science and public concern matter in the classification guideline.

Chief Justice Andrew Li Kwok-nang has also recently criticized the existing indecent censorship practice for confusing the administrative and legal function. He suggests to separate the two functions and reform the small circle adjudicator system into a jury system. Although the legal and human rights perspective has set a constructive direction for the reform, the public attention is still on moral debate and the fight between conservative Christian rights and liberals, in particular sexual minority groups.

After this round of consultation, the government will come up with a concrete proposal for reforming the COIAO and regulating the new media later this year.

From the photo scandal's Wikipedia entry:

On 4 February 2008, A 29-year-old man became the eighth person to be detained in connection with the internet posting of nude photos. The man arrested is being detained at Ma On Shan police station. On the same day, the 23-year-old man, Sze Ho-Chun, arrested in Central on 2 February 2008 was charged with the dishonest use of computers with criminal intent, which has a maximum penalty of five years of imprisonment. The man appeared in Eastern Court on 5 February 2008. He denied the charge and was released on HK$50,000 bail. The case has been adjourned to 22 February 2008.

Pornography is openly sold by many street newspaper vendors in Hong Kong and versions of the photographs have been seen on the covers of most Chinese-language dailies every day since the first batch of photos appeared online two weeks ago, despite that under the city's Obscene and Indecent Articles Ordinance, distribution is prohibited. Hundreds of netizens came out to protest [zh] the arrests today, calling for Tang's resignation and accusing Hong Kong police of inconsistency in their arrests.

Blogspot blogger Hey Let Me Kiss just happened to pass by the protest and brings us photos and a short report:

With the League of Social Democrats in the lead, a group of several hundred netizens marched this afternoon from Victoria Park to police headquarters, protesting police double standards in assigning large numbers to investigate the celebrity obscene photos as well as launching criticisms at Police Commissioner Tang King Sing, shouting in unison slogans calling for his resignation. Organizers say more than 500 people took part, but the police count was at 230.

Chris “hkdigit” Lee has even more. YouTube user pc8898 was among several to film the event; here are two clips from user tytong1022:

Edison Chen now seems to be in hiding, and the one public statement he's made so far, also on YouTube, has been the object of many angry blog posts and renditions. A Facebook group calling for Tang King Shing to go to arrest Chen in his native Canada features a number of photos which go even further.