Internet Censorship in China - Essay Example

Human Rights Abuse in China: Internet Censorship Internet censorship is the regulation and restriction of access to certain aspects of information like data, controlling internet aspects like IP address, domain regulation and access to certain websites. The People’s Republic of China is a de’ facto one party state ruled by the Communist Party of China which with fears of a revolution in its conservative political values and ideas banned all political parties and embarked on passing legislations to regulate the internet. The government imposed laws and regulations to ensure that citizens in China do not access information which they deemed threatening to the nation’s security and the government’s political interests. Violation of the rules and regulation concerning the internet are punishable by very heavy fines or imprisonment, and the government of China does this just to safeguard its political interest and easily manipulate the people. As the Chinese Internet and wireless communications sectors continue to grow, additional international corporations will continue to face pressure from the Chinese Government to supply equipment used for censorship and surveillance, hand over user information and enthusiastically censor user content (Human Rights Watch 8). The Chinese government should not censor the internet in China because this is limiting the citizens’ rights to access information, their freedom of speech and expression and it leads to a gross violation of human rights. The government actively filters the information that is posted in the social media and digital news, Scores of journalists and citizens are arrested on the grounds of cyber impropriety. In fact, China has the greatest number of arrests of journalists and internet dissidents, this is to a very great extent limiting and depriving the people of China off their right to information and also their freedom of expression. Those who try to criticise the government are often silenced through detentions and heavy fines. People cannot post whatever they feel or think in the social media especially concerning politics and democracy. After the Arab spring which saw the fall of autocratic regimes in the Middle East, the Chinese government embarked on a crackdown of people who were posting material, which the government deemed sensitive. Social media websites such as facebook and twitter are often blocked by the government in what the government says is interests of national security. The government authorities not only block website content but also monitor internet activities of individuals; even though, monitoring of individual activities and access of the internet is a violation of the individual’s right to privacy, the right to privacy is a fundamental human right and is the right to be let alone. Every person has the right to privacy, which should be respected by all governments and even people. All the material accessed and posted in China is subject to active scrutiny by individuals in government agencies and companies often referred to as ‘Big mammas.’ Such material could also leak, of course anonymously or even published in a government Newspaper probably to humiliate the person involved. Internet censorship is also a limiting factor to acquisition of knowledge that is important both in academics and in life in general. Some of the material that is restricted by the Great Firewall of China includes search engine searches of certain key words like the Tibetian Independence movement, Taiwan independence and Tuidang movement among others. This is limiting to students or even teachers who might want to use the internet as a resource for research and other purposes, and most of the websites and blogs blocked by the government are those that centre on freedom of speech and democracy. During the uprising in Egypt that was propagated via social media and led to the fall of Mubarak’s corrupt and autocratic regime the word Egypt had been blocked in all search engines in mainland China. The Government enforce the censorship through service providers like Google, state owned companies and organisations and local service providers. Their clients usually hold companies liable for bad use of the internet or staff a policy made to ensures that all companies operating in China practice self-censorship. The government blocks certain websites such as social media websites and also international media for instance the New York Times. This kind of censorship is limiting to information, which is very crucial to citizens, considering information is power, people ought to stay informed on current trend and upcoming issues. This amounts to curtailing media freedom, which has been exemplified by arrest of journalist and human rights activists in the country. It denies the people the right to know not only what is happening in their country but also in the world, for instance a teacher, Liu Shaokun, was arrested in 2008 and charged in court for uploading photos showing falling classrooms in China. The government is further violating the rights of the Chinese people by trampling on their freedom, as according to Article 19 of the declaration for human rights every person has the freedom of expression (United Nations). Fines and arrests are becoming optional punishment for people who express or access undesirable material through the different platforms in the internet as this is viewed as a genesis to social instability. A journalist was for instance arrested and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for sending a message via his Yahoo account to an American based pro-democracy website. In the mail, he summarised the government’s orders to journalists to downplay the anniversary of the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy activists. The journalist was arrested in 2004 and charged for what the police called sharing of state secret with foreign entities. Scores of Chinese people are under house arrest and others in prisons because of the internet censorship system of the Chinese government. Internet censorship suppresses democracy, transparency and good governance, since as poised by Gadhi, “The most effective exercise of power is that which irks least”. This is because by totally controlling the access and sharing of information, the Government of China facilitates an autocratic system of governance that violently suppresses any forms of criticism or opposition. Situations that could raise eye blows among the citizens or even the international community are either downplayed or not given media coverage at all. Though China has the second largest economy and the fastest growing economy in the world, poor governance and oppression of citizens can bring the country into destruction. The way that Chinese government is trying to deal with issues of preventing social unrest is not healthy at all. People value their freedom more than anything else values and can do anything to get their freedom; for example, Libya had one of the biggest economies in Africa. It was the only country that was debt free but had an autocratic government that oppressed the people. We all know what happened in Libya and it might probably happen in China despite internet censorship. On the other hand, as a counter argument the move of the Chinese government to censor the internet in China is justifiable. The government has the right to control and govern the internet according to its own rules and laws within the borders. China is a country with the largest population in the world and one can be sure that it is not very easy to govern it. The government therefore has the right to ensure that no material in the internet is a threat to national security or one that could subvert the power of the government or undermine national security or honour. Fully granting the freedom of speech and expression in such a country is recipe for disaster this is even though, “…rights are a special kind of normative social relationship” (Wolterstorff 411). It could be misused to cause civil unrest in the country or bring the government down just as it happened in Tunisia, Egypt and in Libya. A revolution propagated through the social media can be a nightmare; all that the Chinese government is doing is in the interest and security of the people of China. In addition, internet censorship system is also very instrumental in safeguarding the Chinese culture against being eroded by the western culture as seen in other countries. The Chinese people highly regard their culture and moral values. If materials that could threaten the Chinese culture and moral fabric are allowed, it would be as good as welcoming vices into China. For instance if pornographic material was allowed, it would encourage immorality and prostitution in the country. This is also the reason why China does not allow other religions in their country just to protect their culture, which is founded on Confucianism; therefore, the culture of the Chinese people is their symbol of unity and national cohesion. In conclusion, internet censorship system might seem to work well for China but this cannot continue for a long time. The government should stop the censorship as it is greatly infringing in the fundamental human rights of the Chinese people such as the right to privacy, freedom of speech and expression and denying the people the right to information and knowledge. The Chinese government should instead pave way for democracy to avoid possibilities of a revolution via the internet. People would not want to subvert a democratic government through the social media; it should also allow critics as it contributes to good governance. The Chinese government should seek alternative ways of safeguarding their culture but not through denying people access to information. They can invest in instilling morals in their citizens and be on the forefront in embracing and appreciating the Chinese culture. In one way or another, the Chinese people will access the information anyway and they might abandon their culture if they do not value it. Moreover it is important that the government should end the challenges it s facing in juggling whether to keep the internet fully open for commercial purposes or to maintain its control for socio-political stability. Work Cited Human Rights Watch, "Race to the Bottom": Corporate Complicity in Chinese Internet Censorship, New York: Digital Devide, 2006. Print. United Nations. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948. Web. August 10, 2013 < http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml > Gadhi, Mahatma The Non-violent Society. n.d. Web. August 10, 2013 < http://www.mkgandhi.org/nonviolence/phil5.htm > Wolterstorff, Nicholas. Can Human Rights Survive Secularization, Vill. L. Rev. 411 (2009). Vol. 54: Issue 3. Read More