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Beijing Olympics 2008: Winning Press Freedom
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Internet games (124 million or 59.3 per cent). Online game-playing is particularly popular among
young people. About three quarters of youngsters below 18 play online games regularly, spending
around 10 hours per week on the activity. Low- income and low-education people make the
highest use of Internet games, compared to other groups. Internet game-playing is even more
popular than e-mailing, with 118 million (or 56.5 per cent) using e-mail services.
Personal web sites and blogs have a high growth rate. The Network Information Center report
says that in late 2007 nearly 25 per cent of Chinese Internet users had their own web sites, which
means that there are nearly 50 million individual blogs. Less popular are online job hunting (21
million or 10.4 per cent), online payment (33 million or 15.8 per cent), online education (38 million
or 18.2 per cent) and online banking (40 million or 19.2 per cent). Official e-government services,
according to the Network Information Center, are underused. Only a quarter of China's Internet
users use the services offered by the national and local authorities.
While the Chinese government supports development of a national Internet economy by
encouraging e-commerce and other commercial activities on the Internet, it tries to keep
control of the national domain name space and in particular control over content distributed via
the Internet within China.
Human Rights
Article 35 of the 1982 constitution guarantees, that “Citizens of the People's Republic of China
enjoy freedom of speech, of the press, of assembly, of association, of procession and of
demonstration.” 23
Article 40 guarantees the freedom and privacy of correspondence: “No organization or individual
may, on any ground, infringe upon the freedom and privacy of citizens' correspondence except in
cases where, to meet the needs of state security or of investigation into criminal offences, public
security or procuratorial organs are permitted to censor correspondence in accordance with
procedures prescribed by law.” 24
According to Article 41, citizens have the right to criticize and make suggestions to any state organ
or official. “Citizens have the right to make to relevant state organs complaints and charges
against, or exposures of, violation of the law or dereliction of duty by any state organ or
functionary.” But the article adds that “fabrication or distortion of facts with the intention of libel or
frame-up is prohibited.” 25
Regardless of the liberal language of the constitution, China is widely seen as one of the world's
most restrictive countries when it comes to freedom of expression on the Internet. There is a huge
gap between theory and practice. All the constitutional rights and freedoms are conditioned by
general provisions to protect national security, public order and state secrets. In cases of conflict,
the interests of the state or the government have a higher value than the rights of individuals.
With references to the “higher values” of society, censorship is justified, and individual rights and
freedoms are often reduced to a low level, particularly when sensitive political issues are at stake.
“The harmonious Internet”
The concept of “the harmonious Internet” propagated by the Chinese government 26 is designed to
“clean” the Internet of criminal activities, piracy, pornography and “bad information.”
Philosophically, it is inspired by a mix of Confucianism, a special interpretation of the Ying-Yang
principle and power politics of the Communist Party. To simplify, the concept says that all good
things on the Internet should be promoted, but bad things should be suppressed.