{"id":208313,"date":"2018-08-01T08:11:58","date_gmt":"2018-08-01T15:11:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/?p=208313"},"modified":"2018-08-01T18:32:36","modified_gmt":"2018-08-02T01:32:36","slug":"ex-cyberczar-indicted-but-internet-still-has-brakes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinadigitaltimes.net\/2018\/08\/ex-cyberczar-indicted-but-internet-still-has-brakes\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-Cyberczar Indicted, But Internet Still Has Brakes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Following a stinging rebuke from the Party’s disciplinary inspectors when he was expelled from its ranks<\/a> in February, former cyberczar Lu Wei has been formally indicted for criminal prosecution<\/a><\/strong>. From state broadcaster CGTN:<\/p>\n

A procuratorate in Ningbo, east China’s Zhejiang Province, has filed indictments against Lu Wei, former deputy head of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and former head of the Cyberspace Administration of China, for multiple offenses including taking bribes.<\/p>\n

According to the procuratorate, the 58-year-old has abused power and public resources for personal purposes and illegally accepted large sums of money. [Source<\/strong><\/a>]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Lu was abruptly replaced<\/a> as head of the Cyberspace Administration of China<\/a> in June 2016. The announcement of his investigation for “serious disciplinary violation” last November prompted a censorship directive, published by CDT, ordering sites and services to close comments and “find and delete negative comments attacking the system.”<\/a><\/p>\n

The language with which state media reported his indictment this week appears markedly restrained compared with that found in the CCDI’s earlier verdict<\/a>, which blasted Lu for “weak Party spirit,” personal enrichment, lewd and extravagant behavior, rampant self-promotion, selectively implementing and improperly discussing<\/a> central policy, lying to higher authorities, and engaging in conspiracies. BBC Monitoring’s Kerry Allen noted the different tone<\/a><\/strong>:<\/p>\n

Although many English-language papers highlight Mr Lu’s former key role, media in mainland China are playing down his prosecution.<\/p>\n

Many official media highlight that he was “deputy minister of the publicity department”, rather than highlight his important online watchdog role.<\/p>\n

The official broadcaster CCTV does not give prominence to Mr Lu’s prosecution, but instead mentions that the Supreme People’s Procuratorate has filed a public prosecution order against three officials, of whom Mr Lu is one.<\/p>\n

Very few social media comments are available, and it is appears that government censors are removing posts. [Source<\/strong><\/a>]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Meanwhile, South China Morning Post’s Zhou Xin, Choi Chi-yuk, and Nectar Gan reported last week on the departure of Lu Wei’s successor at the CAC<\/a><\/strong>, former Shanghai propaganda chief Xu Lin<\/a>, as part of a wider reshuffle amid concerns that the country’s propaganda has been too aggressive<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Xu Lin, who worked for Xi in Shanghai, is likely to take over as the party’s international propaganda chief.<\/p>\n

Xu, 56, the head of the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) since June 2016, was expected to take charge of the State Council Information Office and the party’s external propaganda arm, the sources said, replacing Jiang Jianguo.<\/p>\n

[\u2026 Political analyst Chen Daoyin] said Xu was a “Shanghai-style cadre” known for pragmatism, and was like to tweak China’s propaganda strategy to be less provocative and confrontational.<\/p>\n

[\u2026] Zhuang Rongwen, also a Xi ally, is expected to take over from Xu at the CAC, also known as the Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission.<\/p>\n

Zhuang, 57, who previously worked for Xi in Fujian, has risen quickly in the official hierarchy, gaining promotion in April to head of the State Administration of Press and Publication. Earlier this month, Zhuang assumed a new title as the director for National Office Against Pornographic and Illegal Publications. [Source<\/strong><\/a>]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Wall Street Journal confirmed Zhuang’s appointment<\/a> on Wednesday. Researchers at New America wrote in March that “the background of Xu’s successor will be a key indicator of how CAC will prioritize work going forward. If his successor comes from a more technical and security background, this will signal that the national security aspects of cybersecurity will now be prioritized” over media content control. As co-author Graham Webster noted while highlighting that analysis on Twitter<\/a>, Zhuang’s appointment would appear to signal continued emphasis on the latter.<\/p>\n

While Lu may be gone, the internet “brakes” that he declared a necessity<\/a> seem only to have been upgraded<\/a> and more aggressively applied<\/a>. One vocal critic of internet censorship, activist Zhen Jianghua, is expected to stand trial for inciting subversion<\/a> soon following his detention last September<\/a>. Meanwhile countless others are finding themselves “locked out of online life”<\/a><\/strong> for seemingly minor or unintentional transgressions, as Viola Zhou recently reported at Inkstone:<\/p>\n

Inkstone spoke to five people whose WeChat accounts have been permanently revoked over the past two weeks. They had no warning before and no explanation after, except a vague accusation of \u201cspreading malignant rumors.\u201d<\/p>\n

None of them are political activists or dissidents. Incidental mentions of political issues, which they suspect caused the problems, were tiny parts of their social media use.<\/p>\n

[\u2026] \u201cThe result is people don\u2019t know where the red line is until they cross it,\u201d says Lotus Ruan, a censorship researcher at the University of Toronto\u2019s Citizen Lab. \u201cWhen they are not sure what constitutes \u2018sensitive,\u2019 it increases self-censorship and over-censorship.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u2026] \u201cThat kind of experience also politicizes people by letting them learn about the state,\u201d says the University of Georgia\u2019s Professor [Rongbin] Han. \u201cThey previously thought that only political activists were punished: now they are also punished.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut as individuals, they are also powerless. What they can do is very little.\u201d [Source<\/strong><\/a>]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

Users who lost their accounts this month told me they reacted to reports about Xi Jinping or the Communist Party power struggles in the group chat, without saying anything provocative<\/p>\n

\u2014 Viola Zhou \u5468\u6613 (@violazhouyi) July 26, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

Hours later, they were locked out of WeChat and banned from talking to any of their contacts \u2013 they ended up calling their friends, family members, colleagues and clients to explain what happened<\/p>\n

\u2014 Viola Zhou \u5468\u6613 (@violazhouyi) July 26, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

They are angry and scared (one user insists talking to me by email only bc he believes he is being monitored now). But they cannot afford quitting the super app everyone else is using. That’s how powerless individual tech users are.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Viola Zhou \u5468\u6613 (@violazhouyi) July 26, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Read more via CDT on the lack of options facing Chinese users<\/a> in an environment where, as The Financial Times’ Louise Lucas reported earlier this month, the few ubiquitous key players are thoroughly entangled with the authorities<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Another recent account of unexpectedly harsh WeChat control came from software engineer Jackie Luo on Twitter:<\/p>\n

\n

the chinese government shut down my mom\u2019s college wechat group. it included people in and out of china who would chat about social issues in the country\u2014just ordinary people making conversation. thursday morning, when my mom checked it, it was silent.<\/p>\n

— Jackie Luo (@jackiehluo) July 28, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n