censorship

China's 50-cent-a-piece propagandists

Sophie — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 10:43:53 +0200

A search for "Tiananmen Square massacre" brings up no results on a Chinese search engine.

For the Chinese authorities, anything goes when it comes to controlling Web 2.0 - and that includes bribing the public into posting propaganda for 50 cents, says Hong Kong blogger Oiwan Lam.

Oiwan Lam is known for stirring up trouble with the super strict Hong Kong internet regulators. She became renowned on the blogosphere after facing charges for linking one of her posts to a nude Renaissance painting last year. In this amateur video, she talks to journalist and blogger Thomas Crampton about the Chinese government's latest scheme to control "alternative content" on the net. She says that writing a pro-government comment on an online debate will get you a reward of 50 cents (5 euro cents), which, if you have enough time on your hands, could amount to a second income.

Deface Jesus and risk doing time

Ségolène — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 02:48:00 +0200

When vandals destroyed pieces of modern art in an exhibition in Moscow, it wasn't the perpetrators who got into trouble. According to the law, their actions were justifiable. Museum director Yuri Samodurov however, is now facing several years in prison for putting on another of the "Christianity-offensive" shows.

In 2003 the Andrei Sakharov Museum and Community Center put up artwork in a show called "Careful, Religion!" When the display was vandalised by orthodox Christians, the organisers of the exhibition were put to blame. In the opinion of the Russian court, it was the centre's fault for provoking offense, and worthy of a 200,000 Russian Ruble fine (5,400 euros). Now, the museum's director is once again facing charges for inciting religious hatred. Despite using peep-hole viewing methods so that only those people interested would look at the 2007 "Forbidden Art" show, both director Yuri Samodurov and curator Andrei Erofeev are facing prison terms for displaying defaced religious symbols.

China loses its grip on information, riots break out

Sophie — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 12:39:11 +0200

Image posted on QQ.com.

The Chinese authorities momentarily lost control over public information this weekend when their desperate endeavours to cover up the rape and murder of a 15-year-old girl lead to violent riots in the south-western Guinzhou province. Web users destroyed officials' attempts to downplay the enormity of events by continuously posting images and accounts of the protests.

Online accounts say that after her body was found in the river, local residents said that Li Shufen had been raped and murdered by three relatives of Yuhua county officials. However, the three accused were released without charge after eight hours following the results of a basic autopsy which reported that she had committed suicide. When her uncle, who she lived with, complained about procedures, he was so badly beaten that he was taken to hospital. Information about the attempted cover-up soon got onto the internet and people started speaking about it on forums and chat sites such as Baidu and Tainya. Asian TV went to interview Li's uncle, a teacher, in hospital. Three hours later he died. Discussions escalated until Saturday, when a reported 10,000 people took to the streets to protest the handling of the case.

Videos and photos of the riots (below) show chaos as a local administration building burns and cars lie overturned in the road. Web users managed to keep the documents online for 24 hours by constantly re-posting comments about the events onto different sites as the censors worked to remove them. Today, however, accounts of the incidents have completely disappeared. The only information available to the public comes from official news agency Xinhua, which states: "some people who did not know about the exact context of what had happened were instigated to mob the police station and the office buildings of the county government and Communist Party committee". The authorities are appealing for rioters to turn themselves in and have so far arrested almost 200 people.

Tiananmen commemorations, a perfect example of disinformation

Sophie — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 14:47:05 +0200

Last Thursday, we published a post about the 48,000 mourners who gathered in Hong Kong to commemorate the Tiananmen Square massacre. A blogger noticed that for the first time ever, China's state press followed the annual event. However, their coverage of the demonstrations was missing an important piece of information...

Chinese TV channel CCTV chose to report on the demonstrations by showing images of the protestors when they sat down for a minute's silence to commemorate victims of the earthquake. Not one word, on the other hand, was said about the Tiananmen Square remembrance service, which was the reason for the gathering in the first place.

Blogger Zonaeuropa translated this very poetic, albeit completely biased, commentary by the Chinese TV station.

On the evening of June 4th, many Hong Kong citizens came down to Victoria Park to participate in the candlelight assembly to commemorate the victims of the Sichuan earthquake. They sat down on the soccer fields and held candlesticks. As the evening grew darker, more candles were lit to form an ocean. The candlelight silently expressed the sad and well-meaning sentiments of the Hong Kong people towards their compatriots. The light drizzle did not dampen the passion and sincerity of the people of Hong Kong. (...)"

What do the Chinese know about Tiananmen Square?

Ségolène — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 15:46:03 +0200

"Tiananmen Square" search on Google: in the US on the left, the tanks.On the right, a tour in China.

Chinese expats commemorated the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre yesterday. But while the event remains unforgettable to the rest of the world, one of our Observers for China reminds us that the country itself is almost entirely unaware of it ever taking place, as the authorities have extinguished close to all information about it from the internet.

The panellist who disappeared

Sophie — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 15:29:28 +0200

Last October a political analyst well known for his critical attitude towards the Kremlin took part in a pre-recorded debate on the Russian TV channel TV Centre. Were the authorities ready to get slated on television? Apparently not. When the show was broadcast a few days later, the opponent magically disappeared from the set.

The producers of the show - incidentally called "The People Want to Know" - soon realised their mistake after filming and carefully edited out Mikhaïl Deliaguin's contributions from the recordings. The black sheep is an economist who has advised Boris Yeltsin and other various politicians who are today expelled from power. He regularly condemns Russia's power and electoral systems. Although he was removed from the show, you can't say he wasn't there at all - the ghost panellist can sometimes be seen in the background.

Grand Theft Auto: blood sex and drugs for the under-18s

Julien — Fri, 02 May 2008 14:17:37 +0200

A computer game that contains blood, violence, sex, drugs and alcohol has sold more copies in its first day than any other in history. But not everybody is a fan of Grand Theft Auto IV. Available for children of any age in the US, critics warn that the game could lead to youth violence.

Released at midnight on Tuesday, the fourth version of GTA is Rockstar Games' bestseller yet, shipping 9.5 million copies worldwide for the first week of sales. Despite a relaxed advertising campaign compared with other game launches, millions of people queued up all over the world to get a copy. Concern was heightened in the UK when in a "life-imitates-art" fluke, a man in a queue in South London stabbed a passer-by. But while the sale of the game is banned to under-18s in Europe, Americans are simply "advised" with a "mature" rating. The Parents Television Council says that is not enough, and is willing to go to court to stop the game being handed over to minors.