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.

The report pointed out that there are two major kind of filters in Hong Kong, one is based on keyword filtering, another one is based on black list. The former will censor away academic and useful information on sex education and health care while the latter will be affected by majority's bias, especially towards sexual minority. A major lesbian forum, blur-f.com, was forced to close down by local ISP even though there isn't even a single nude photos on the websites.

Leslovestudy urges the government not to implement mandatory filtering service at the ISP level and should not subsidy private sector for developing and marketing client-end filters as there isn't any mechanism for monitoring abusive filters provided by private companies.

Leslovestudy chose a number of local and overseas LGBT community websites, as well as academic websites on LGBT and sexuality issues to test the filters. Below is the outcome: