China to step up social media censorship
China has vowed to intensify controls on social media and instant messaging tools, in the highest-level official response to the extraordinary surge in microblogging in the country. The communique from the Communist party central committee follows growing boldness among users, who have discussed sensitive topics, highlighted scandals and attacked official abuses or inefficiency. This summer's high-speed rail crash in Wenzhou led to an outpouring of fury on microblogs about the handling of the disaster. That spilled over into mainstream media.
China already has the most extensive and sophisticated internet control system in the world. But censors have struggled to keep up with the flow of information on popular microblogs. The number of registered users on domestic services reached 195 million by the end of June, triple the figure of six months earlier, according to the China Internet Network Information Centre.
"This [communique] is what we have been waiting for; there have been signs for weeks now," said David Bandurski, of Hong Kong University's China Media Project. "It is important, but it does not tell us exactly what's going to happen. It sends the signal: 'Everyone watch out'. "Usually [these kind of directives] are followed by some more concrete actions, but it's often very difficult to draw a line between a government policy flare like this and a particular action because control is a constant in China."
Communiques are a way for senior leaders to stress their priorities. "Strengthen guidance and administration of social internet services and instant communications tools, and regulate the orderly dissemination of information," said the document, carried in the official People's Daily newspaper and by the state news agency Xinhua. "Apply the law to sternly punish the dissemination of harmful information."
Microbloggers reacted with predictable disdain. One, using the name Luse Zhuren, wrote: "Good culture will all disappear if opinion keeps being guided." Another, Wu Sanfan, warned: "I faintly feel that weibo (microblogging services), this big tea house where ordinary people speak with freedom, will hang a wooden board up saying 'No talk about the country's politics'." Content is already blocked or deleted from services. But censors have found it hard to match the speed at which news can spread on microblogs or the way that users evade controls, such as by using euphemisms or homophones to refer to sensitive issues.
