Introduction to Cyber-Warfare - Proiect SEMPER FIDELIS

MONITORING DISSIDENTS: GH0STNET139FIGURE 7.5 The Dalai Lama, pictured here with President Barrack Obama, leads the Tibetan Government in exile.It is possible that the Chinese government leverages cyber espionage against Tibetans for critical information toobtain an advantage in their negotiations with this group. Official White House photo by Pete Souza.information about the opinion poll had been posted on 7600 Chinese Web sites calling upontheir visitors to “not cast the wrong vote.” 52 Eventually, 600,000 users had voted against thepremature end to the torch relay. 53 Although this incident was apparently the result of anaggregate effort of Chinese individuals, the BBC also reports on the government’s sophisticatedpractice of keyword filtering and blocking foreign media and their Web sites. 54 As inOctober 2007, the Chinese government blocked access to social media Web sites. 55, 56 In additionto YouTube, the authorities apparently rendered the Web sites of online media, TheGuardian, Yahoo, and L.A. Times unavailable to Chinese Internet users. 57 The Tibetan protestswere neither the first nor the last occasion for the Chinese government to execute Internetcensorship. In the wake and during the 2008 Olympic Games, Beijing blocked the Web sites ofamnesty international and other human rights organizations as well as the online presence ofTibetan authorities in exile. 58 Other case studies of government filtering and use of the Internetagainst dissidents in Russia and Iran are described in greater detail in Chapter 5.In the aftermath, Chinese academics and human rights activists called for press freedomand the independent investigation into the recent crisis in Tibet. 59 Chinese philosopher ZhangBoshu published an extensive treatise in which he points out that the Chinese problem withTibet is first and foremost a human rights issue and that the arrogance of Han-dominatedChina prevents improvements in Sino-Tibetan relations. Although Boshu does not supportTibetan independence, he argues that violence and oppression cannot lead to peaceful coexistenceand cooperation. 60Writings like this appear to voice the growing awareness among the Chinese public of notonly the grievous situation of Tibetans in Tibet but also the drastic mishandling of the situationby their government. The latter now had to face increasing internal critique in additionto international accusations of human right abuses in Tibet. 61 To make matters worse, the