Annual Report on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders in China ...

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<strong>Annual</strong> <strong>Report</strong> on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders in China (2009)April 26, 2010pressure. Network of Chinese Thoughts, 42 a website that hosts commentaries aswell as books on social and political issues, was closed for a week starting onMay 25. Additionally, approximately 160 sites were closed for “systemmaintenance” around the same time. 43• Beginning on September 19, prior to National Day on October 1, hackers attackedthe Rights Defense China 44 website, shutting it down for an extended period oftime. The site has since returned to service. 45• On December 22, the server hosting the website China Voice of the People Net 46was shut down as part of the “anti-pornography” campaign run by the Ministry ofIndustry and Information Technology (MIIT). The website has since re-opened. 47c. Censoring online toolsBesides targeting specific blogs and websites, the government also targeted a number oftools and programs that have aided internet activism. In July, the Chinese governmentshut down the Chinese micro-blogging site Fanfou 48 after some Fanfou users reported onthe violence in Urumqi in early July. It is also possible that the authorities became waryof micro-blogging after Fanfou’s international counterpart, Twitter, gained widespreadattention for its role in the protests following the Iranian presidential elections in June. 49Prior to October 1, activists and netizens across China reported that they were unable toaccess Freegate, 50 Wu Jie, 51 Garden Networks, 52 or TOR, popular proxy servers used bymany to circumvent internet censorship and reach websites based outside of China. 53However, these measures were largely ineffective in stopping more determined internetusers, who were able to get across the Great Firewall by using updated versions of theseand other services. Moreover, some tech-savvy netizens found replacements for certainservices that are unavailable in China, and encouraged their use among other netizens.For example, following the closure of Fanfou, an increasing number of Chinese citizensare now using Twitter. However, the net result of these government actions is that themajority of netizens in China, who are less driven and technologically-adept, are keptwithin the confines of the Great Firewall.d. Making the domain name registration process more stringentAfter its failed bid to have the filtering software Green Dam 54 installed on every newcomputer sold in China, the government resorted to one of its most effective means ofcensorship—introducing new administrative measures. On December 11, the ChinaInternet Network Information Center, a Government-Organized NGO (GONGO)responsible for registering domain names in China, issued a notice demanding that thoseregistering for a domain name supply an application form stamped with a company sealand a business or organizational license. This requirement effectively barred individualsfrom registering for a domain name and sparked strong opposition from netizens andinternet companies alike. 55 Approximately two months later, on February 23, 2010, theMinistry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) released a notice thatessentially lifted this requirement. In its place, MIIT introduced less drastic measures to16
<strong>Annual</strong> <strong>Report</strong> on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders in China (2009)April 26, 2010tighten the registration process, requiring domain name applicants to provide morecomprehensive personal information.This was not the first time the authorities used online registration processes as a means tocontrol access to and expression on the internet. In May 2009, the Hangzhou MunicipalGovernment issued a new set of regulations requiring netizens to register with their realname and identification numbers with Hangzhou-based internet service providers (ISPs)when setting up blogs, posting on online forums, or using other internet services.However, there were strong doubts about the effectiveness of the measures as netizenscould easily avoid registering with companies based in Hangzhou. The Hangzhougovernment eventually abandoned the effort due to widespread non-compliance by ISPsbased in the city. 56The Hangzhou regulations were one of three similar experiments by local governmentsseeking to limit dissent through registering netizens. However, all measures wereultimately unsuccessful as they met strong opposition from both netizens and ISPs, whoargued that the measures were unrealistic, difficult to implement and harmful tobusinesses. 57 It remains to be seen what will happen with the latest notice from MIIT.e. Cyber informantsThe Chinese government continues to employ and recruit cyber informants and “fiftycent gang” 58 members, individuals who are paid or who volunteer to monitor, interferewith, or censor the content of internet forums. CHRD does not currently have an estimateregarding the number of cyber censors, but a June 18 article in the Beijing Youth Dailyreported that the Beijing municipal government was seeking 10,000 people “from allwalks of life” to help in deleting “harmful” content and monitoring the activity on theinternet. 59f. Online dissentAs mentioned above, popular resistance by internet users has forced the government toback down on a number of key censorship initiatives. Affirming the importance offreedom of expression and access to information, a group of fifteen Chinese bloggers,writers, scholars, and lawyers published a “Declaration of Netizens’ Rights,” on October8, and they further called upon the government to establish a “China Internet HumanRights Day.” 60 Lawsuits and internet campaigns were also popular methods of pushingback against censorship in the past year.A number of netizens took the government or their ISPs to court when their blogs orwebsites were shut down by the authorities. Though few cases were accepted by thecourts, and even fewer received favorable rulings, CHRD did document a couple ofsurprise success stories from 2009. On March 30, Beijing academic Hu Xingdou (sued Beijing's Xinwang Company after it closed his website for a day because itcontained allegedly “illegal content.” The court ruled that Xinwang failed to prove that星胡) 斗17
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