abusesaffiliationarrow-downarrow-leftarrow-rightarrow-upattack-typeburgerchevron-downchevron-leftchevron-rightchevron-upClock iconclosedeletedevelopment-povertydiscriminationdollardownloademailenvironmentexternal-linkfacebookfiltergenderglobegroupshealthC4067174-3DD9-4B9E-AD64-284FDAAE6338@1xinformation-outlineinformationinstagraminvestment-trade-globalisationissueslabourlanguagesShapeCombined Shapeline, chart, up, arrow, graphLinkedInlocationmap-pinminusnewsorganisationotheroverviewpluspreviewArtboard 185profilerefreshIconnewssearchsecurityPathStock downStock steadyStock uptagticktooltiptwitteruniversalityweb
Article

13 Dec 2015

Author:
Bangkok Post

China weaves a nasty web

…Wuzhen will [host the] Second World Internet Conference…and will feature President Xi Jinping as the keynote speaker…

…China does not censor at all, Mr Lu [Lu Wei, director of Cyberspace Administration of China] explained to international media last week, but it manages the internet. That, again, is actually the main theme of the Second World Internet Conference -- China attempting to convince the world that rule of law can prevent use of the internet for negative purposes…

China…allows foreign internet companies to do business in China, but only if they agree to every fragment of Chinese censorship rules. Social network LinkedIn, for example, abandoned its principles to set up a rigorously policed Chinese-language site. The CVs are there, but professional banter is censored.

…The international media freedom group Reporters Without Borders has called for a full boycott of this week's conference in beautiful Wuzhen. The RSF in fact ranks China as the world's No.1 "enemy of the internet". It is worse than Iran which, however, is currently getting help from Beijing to tighten its own "clean internet" project…[mentions Alibaba, Baidu, Facebook, Google, Tencent and Twitter]