Nanfang Zhoumo (Southern Weekend), one of China’s most popular newspapers and part of the independent-minded Southern Daily Group, has published a lengthy report on government efforts to censor the Internet. [UPDATE: ESWN has translated the article in full.] This is not the first time that this paper has taken on this topic. Today’s article, titled “14 Departments Unite to ‘Purify’ the Internet” (14ÈÉ®ÂßîËÅîÂêà“ÂáÄÂåñ“‰∫íËÅîÁΩë), reports that, “Since 1996, 14 bureaus and departments including the Central Propaganda Bureau, State Council Information Office, Public Security Bureau, Ministry of Culture, and the Administration of Press and Publications have all participated in managing the Internet. All together, they have issued close to 50 laws and regulations, creating the world’s most abundant and comprehensive system of rules to manage the InternetÔºåAn expert who studies Internet law told a reporter from this paper that the effectiveness of our government’s emphasis on Internet security and management, ‘is very rare in the world.'”
Meanwhile, Radio Free Asia has reported that instant message users in Shenzhen have been required to have their true identities verified by Internet company Tencent (owner of QQ SMS technology) before they engage in group discussions. (See also CDT’s report “Translation of the Filtered Key Words in Chinese Cyberspace.”)
