Web censorship
March 12, 2010
The latest study by Reporters without Borders identified 12 "enemies of the Internet" - especially in Asia and the Arab world. Among them are countries like China, Burma, North Korea, Saudi Arabia and Iran.
"In those countries control and surveillance of the World Wide Web is so strict that the Internet is in fact more of an intranet," says Anja Viohl, spokesperson of Reporters Without Borders, an international organization fighting for press freedom.
China steps up its control
It's in those countries that bloggers and dissidents who use the Internet are subject to repression and censorship. China leads the way in terms of the technical effort and sophistication the authorities put into censoring online content. The country also has the largest online community with around 380 million users.
In January, US Internet giant Google had threatened to withdraw from the Chinese market altogether. The move came after hackers targeted Google's Chinese service.
So far it's not yet clear who was behind the attacks - the Chinese government denies any involvement. But regardless of whether or not Beijing is responsible - there is little doubt that access to foreign websites is significantly limited across China.
Sealing off the Internet
"The censorship by the communist government now affects almost all foreign Web sites. If you don't actually have a Chinese Web address, then you're likely to be entirely blocked so no one in China can access the site," said Adrienne Woltersdorf, head of the Chinese department at Deutsche Welle.
Access to Deutsche Welle's websites is strongly affected by the country's censorship.
Other international broadcasters like the BBC, Voice of America and Radio Free Asia have the same problem. Not only is critical news being blocked out, but competition on the media market is also significantly affected. The US is currently considering taking China to court at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) over censorship issues.
Surveilling, scanning, blocking
Behind China's policy of censorship there is a sophisticated mechanism of control. Experts assume that around 40,000 state employees are keeping a close eye on the Web. All Chinese e-mail traffic is copied and then scanned for sensitive words like "Tianamen" - the same mechanism is used for scanning Web sites.
According to Reporters without Borders, around 60 countries censored public access to the Internet in 2009. There are some surprises in this list - countries like Australia or South Korea who have stepped up surveillance of the Internet to combat child pornography. Globally some 120 bloggers and dissidents are under arrest for things they wrote on the Internet.
Deutsche Welle's Adrienne Woltersdorf said a new approach was needed even in countries where freedom of speech is not infringed.
"The Western world has to very carefully consider how to deal with regimes that so bluntly and systematically block free access to information on the Internent."
Author: Jan Bruck (ai)
Editor: Rob Turner