Propagandists vs the Internet in China

[bemildred]

HONG KONG - In a country where the Communist Party still tries - increasingly without success - to control just about everything, especially the media, the Internet is slipping beyond its grasp. Enraged, the party propagandists have declared war on the Internet deployed, it claims, as a weapon against the state.

China has recently heard a rise in calls from the propaganda sector for tougher regulation of the Internet, the rising and vibrant cyber-medium that sometimes slips beyond the grasp of the ruling Communist Party. The first major call was issued in an unusual meeting last month attended by senior propaganda chiefs, who vowed that the Internet in China has been "exploiting by those with ulterior motives" to malign the government and the party. Less than four weeks later, the party's major mouthpiece, the People's Daily, toed the line, slamming the cyber-media with a critique on December 8. The piece claimed that some "hostile forces" have been maliciously using the Internet for the purpose of splitting and destabilizing society, resulting in possible harm to China's economy and foreign investment.

Nonetheless, these propaganda officials could appear oversensitive or prickly, since they have been obsessed with a myth that mass media should always dance to the Communist Party's tune (and at one time the media slavishly and invariably did so) - or at least not fly in the face of the party's latest doctrines and pronouncements. General obedience is still largely the case concerning the traditional media that are all funded, fostered and administered by the party. In a strict sense, there really are no private media in China. But somehow (by its very nature in the ether of cyber-space), the Internet as an emerging platform of communication, has managed to escape the party's manipulation. Some websites and words can be blocked, but not all communication can be stifled. Thus the Internet plays an indispensable role in making heard the complaints and groans from the grassroots - often ignored by mainstream media - and in addressing injustices, virtually forcing officials to redress some of the most egregious.

Over the past two years, a few righteous people who have stepped up to the plate to confront the party's pressure and suppression of dissenting voices have successfully employed the Internet as their most powerful tool to unearth the truth covered up by authorities, help provide justice to the wrongly accused, and put the guilty in jail. This trend of using the Internet for justice first became clear in the 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) crisis. Then the Internet publicized the case of Sun Zhigang, who was beaten to death by "public servants"; then there were the fabricated charges against two newspaper executives who head a crusading newspaper in exposing Chinese society's "dark sides" that the party endeavors to cloak.

Asia Times

[Old and In the Way]

1. The problem is they need the Internet for their businesses.

They step too hard and it will impact on their ability to do business.

Looks like the Commies have the same problem our Republicans have.....how to curb free speech without hurting commerce.