Determining what Internet content will be deemed acceptable can be quite the task for netizens in China. Some netizens, tired of gingerly stepping around the often ambiguous concerns of web censors, are beginning to show a mounting discontent with the system. The following is one such example.
From The Washington Post:
Outraged that his Internet posting about dogs had been banned, Chen Yuhua wrote to the mayor of Beijing. No answer. He wrote to the city council. Still no answer. When all else failed, he consulted a lawyer, studied China’s civil code and marched into court with a lawsuit.
“I was very careful to follow the correct procedure,” Chen said, pointing at the official legal manual on his dining room table.
Chen’s suit, filed Nov. 26, was a bold challenge to the legal authority of the Communist Party to decide what China’s 1.3 billion people can say and read on their computers. It was a rare — perhaps quixotic — gesture in a country where the power of the Public Security Bureau and Propaganda Department to regulate speech is usually considered absolute, enforced with the threat of jail time. [Full text]
