China’s Golden Shield (The Great Firewall of China) – How long can it stand?
by Sky on Oct.27, 2007, under Blogging, Media
Here’s another, very recent, report on how well China’s Golden Shield (otherwise known as the Great Firewall of China) is or isn’t working. By Oliver August, in WIRED. I was encouraged to read here (and other places as well) news that blogging continues to increase in China and although there’s plenty of repression of bloggers, there are just more and more of them every day.
For example, one tale from this article… “As Chinese citizens become aware that their most potent advantage over censorship is their sheer numbers, more and more grievances are aired online — sometimes with significant consequences. The first cyber-rebellion to have a major political impact took place in 2003. Sun Zhigang, a young migrant worker in Guangzhou, died in police detention after failing to produce identity documents during a street check. Sun’s friends protested his death on discussion boards, and soon other sites picked up a campaign demanding police accountability and reform of the laws affecting migrant workers. Before the unprepared system monitors could react, an avalanche was in motion. …”
“Of course, China is hardly a Jeffersonian paradise. Thousands languish in prison because of harmless online activities. A recent example is Zhang Jianhong — blogging as Li Hong — who was sentenced to six years for posting political essays. Cases like his justify strong criticism of China. But they don’t prove that its monitoring system is successful on a national scale. …”
No related posts.
}Leave a Reply
-
Welcome!
I hope you'll enjoy this mix of topics stemming from my ongoing experiences in the world of online communication. Oh, and sometimes the inspiration comes from face-to-face communications too. Many are sparked by my work as Chief Technology Officer of The Dalai Lama Foundation. Current Features —
CyberSpark.net — Cyber-defense for free speech and human rights onlineMany Paths to Peace — Explore the many ways compassionate peacemakers are working to make this a better world. (Video interviews)
Traveling Geeks — The fun continues! The geeks traveled to London and Cambridge in July, and to Paris in December — and the conversation continues long after the trip has finished. Join us.
March 29th, 2010 on 11:13 am
[...] though I called it cantonization because of the current example of the great Chinese firewall [China’s Golden Shield]. What you see as the Internet when you log on in many countries around the world is only a portion [...]