[huridocs-tech] Chinese Internet clampdown continues after cybercafe fire

DIGITAL FREEDOM NETWORK: Human rights and cyber-rights news

Chinese Internet clampdown continues after cybercafe fire
by Bobson Wong, Digital Freedom Network

URL: www.dfn.org/news/china/cafe-reopen.htm

(July 23, 2002) In the aftermath of a devastating fire in a Beijing 
Internet cafe last month, Chinese authorities took several steps last week 
to control Internet use.

News | Laws | Links | Archives

Last week, 30 Internet cafes in Beijing reopened under strict new 
regulations, according to Chinese media. In a related development, over 300 
organizations have reportedly signed a pledge to discourage the publication 
of "immoral" or "dangerous" material online.

New regulations on Internet cafes

On July 18, the China Youth Daily newspaper reported that the 30 Internet 
cafes that are reopening are the first to receive government approval since 
officials closed all Beijing cybercafes after the fire.

While some of the new regulations on Internet cafes deal with fire safety 
issues — understandable since the cafe where the fire took place had bars 
over the windows and only one exit — the new law also seeks to restrict 
young people's use of Internet cafes. They ban minors from using cafes, 
require the cafes to be closed between midnight and 8 AM, and prohibit 
illegal online material such as pornography, gambling, or violent or 
"superstitious" content. According to the Hong Kong-based Information 
Center for Human Rights and Democracy, filtering software is being 
installed in major Internet cafes throughout mainland China.

Chinese media have sharply criticized Internet cafes, reporting lurid tales 
of students who died of fatigue in cafes, met sexual predators, and dropped 
out of school after getting addicted to the Internet. The June 16 fire in 
the unlicensed Lanjisu Cyber Cafe in Beijing, which killed 25 people, 
seemed to embody the dangers of unregulated Internet use among the young. 
Two teens were arrested for allegedly setting the fire two weeks after 
having a dispute with an attendant at the cybercafe.

Chinese officials moved quickly against what they perceived as a threat to 
society. Beijing Mayor Liu Qi announced that a three-month long anti-fire 
inspection would be conducted in all Beijing enterprises. On June 29, the 
Ministry of Culture announced that a new crackdown on unlicensed Internet 
cafes would take place in July and August. Last week, Hong Kong legislators 
introduced proposals that would require cybercafes to register with the 
government and install devices that would screen violent, pornographic, or 
gambling Web sites, according to the South China Morning Post.

But many cybercafe users were outraged at what they viewed as an 
overreaction by officials. Internet cafes are particularly popular among 
students, who use Internet message boards and online chats for 
free-wheeling discussions. Many families cannot afford to own their own 
computers, and Internet cafes — many of which were open 24 hours a day — 
offer cheap rates late at night. According to a June survey of Internet 
users by the China Network Information Center, 17.3 percent of the nation's 
45.8 million users use cybercafes to get online. Chinese authorities have 
an obligation to eliminate unsafe firetraps. Unfortunately, they also seem 
to be using a tragedy as a pretext for further restricting online expression.

Voluntary pledge for "self-discipline"

In addition to cracking down on cybercafes, Chinese officials are 
encouraging self-censorship among China's major Internet users. Last week, 
a spokesperson for the Internet Society of China (China's non-governmental 
regulator for the Internet industry, which operates with the support of 
such top government authorities as the Ministry of Information Industry) 
reported that its "Public Pledge on Self-Discipline for China Internet 
Industry," first released in March, had attracted over 300 signatories.

The voluntary pledge reinforces the ideas spelled out in the "Provisional 
Regulation on Management and Control of Internet Publications," a new set 
of laws that is supposed to take effect on August 1. The pledge seems 
fairly benign. Signatories promise to promote "patriotism, observance of 
law, equitableness, and trustworthiness" and discourage harmful activities 
such as hacking and copyright infringement.

However, signatories also pledge to refrain from production or 
dissemination "that may jeopardize state security and disrupt social 
stability, contravene laws and regulations and spread superstition and 
obscenity." In practice, such information is generally understood to mean 
material related to such taboo topics as the June 4, 1989 Tiananmen Square 
massacre, Tibet, and the Falun Gong spiritual group.

Among the organizations that signed the pledge were the Chinese version of 
the Yahoo! portal. Foreign companies that want to enter China's lucrative 
markets are eager not to offend the government, so signing the portal may 
have been done to protect business interests.

Ironically, while Yahoo! supports censorship in China, it has promoted 
itself in the United States as a promoter of freedom of expression. 
Currently, Yahoo! is fighting a two-year-old French court ruling that 
ordered the portal to prevent French users from accessing its auctions of 
Nazi memorabilia on its site. Yahoo! fought the case (Yahoo! Inc. v. La 
Ligue Contre le racisme et L'antisemitisme) on the grounds that its 
English-language services are governed by law in the U.S., where the 
company is based and where such auctions are protected by free speech laws. 
In a legal brief filed in May supporting Yahoo!'s opposition to the French 
court ruling, a number of free speech organizations, including Human Rights 
in China, Human Rights Watch, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the 
Digital Freedom Network, argued that if Yahoo! were forced to comply with 
the French hate speech law, it could likewise be required to comply with 
Chinese laws that block access to "subversive" information, leading to a 
global Internet that conforms to the laws of the world's most oppressive 
countries.

Unfortunately, Yahoo! has so far refused to comment on the decision to sign 
the voluntary pledge.

Long-term change?

By implementing new restrictions on Internet cafes, promoting 
self-censorship among China's major Internet companies, and installing 
filtering software on computers, government officials are vigorously 
discouraging material they consider dangerous from appearing online.

If history is any guide, cybercafe users have some hope in the future. 
Enforcement of laws in China has often come in waves. The government 
periodically releases new versions of Internet laws, partly to remind 
people of them. People in China may soon be able to surf the Internet in 
unregulated cybercafes, especially since they are so popular — at least 
until the next crackdown. But if companies like Yahoo! continue to censor 
material on their own, new restrictions on content will become less 
necessary and online expression in China will suffer.


Copyright (c) 2001 Digital Freedom Network (http://dfn.org). All rights 
reserved. This article may be reproduced or redistributed for online 
not-for-profit use without prior written consent as long as DFN is 
recognized with this credit. For information about DFN's permissions 
policy, see <http://dfn.org/about/permissions.htm>.




========== HURIDOCS-Tech listserv ==========
Send mail intended for the list to <huridocs-tech@hrea.org>.
Archives of the list can be found at:
http://www.hrea.org/lists/huridocs-tech/markup/maillist.php
To subscribe to the list, send a message to <majordomo@hrea.org>,
with the following text in the message: subscribe huridocs-tech
To unsubscribe from the list, send a message to <majordomo@hrea.org>,
with the following text in the message: unsubscribe huridocs-tech
If you have problems (un)subscribing, contact <owner-huridocs-tech@hrea.org>.