The Change Mariner

China To Stifle Online Speech

Los Angeles Times:

China on Monday launched a major crackdown on one of the most vibrant parts of the Internet, the news discussion groups that have pushed the boundary of free speech.

The new rules ban independent reporting that has not been approved by the government, discussing sensitive issues such as economic failures and posting anything that challenges the Communist Party.

Officials at the Information Office of the State Council, which regulates online media, were not immediately available for comment.

But according to documents made available to the Los Angeles Times, Information Office gatekeepers outlined the strict guidelines to senior managers from China's largest Internet portals in a meeting this week.

"The reason why they did this is very obvious,'' said Li Fang, chief editor of Netease Review. "The Communist Party thinks the Internet news comments are putting them under too much pressure from public opinion.''

While the government has gone after individual columns and news discussion sites in the past, insiders say this is the first time it has adopted such a systematic approach to the genre. People who work in this area said they were afraid of getting fired, or persecuted politically, as a result of the new campaign.