INCREASED GOVERNMENT CENSORSHIP OF POLITICAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BEIJING 001206

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/06/2034
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PROP SCUL SOCI CH TW EINT
SUBJECT: INCREASED GOVERNMENT CENSORSHIP OF POLITICAL
DISCUSSIONS ON CHINESE INTERNET IN 2009

REF: CPF20090206538001 CHINA -- OSC ANALYSIS

Classified By: Political Minister Counselor
Aubrey Carlson. Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d).

Summary
--------------


1. (C) Aggressive censorship is making it more difficult
to hold political discussions online, according to
multiple bloggers and online activists. While contacts
differed on whether the ongoing "anti-vulgarity" campaign
was being employed as cover for the political tightening,
all agreed that concerns over social stability were
leading to greater government scrutiny of online content.
Contacts also noted that, as in most online censorship
campaigns in China, individual website operators,
Internet service providers and online bulletin board
editors are responsible for proactively removing
objectionable content. Despite increased restrictions,
however, Chinese websites continue to publish articles on
sensitive political topics. End Summary.

Political Discussions Online Difficult
--------------


2. (C) Engaging in political discussion on the Internet
has been more difficult in 2009 than in 2008, according
to multiple contacts who regularly use the Internet to
discuss political issues. Liu Xiaoyuan (protect) a
Beijing-based legal activist and civil rights lawyer told
PolOff in late January that the organizations that hosted
his blogs had become more stringent about what they
allowed him to post. Liu said that readers had
complained because they were unable to post comments
under articles on his blog. These limitations were part
of a "preemptive attack on social and political activism"
this year, said Liu. Zhang Dongchen, former deputy
director of strategic partnerships at Baidu (China's top
search engine) and currently assistant to the CEO, agreed
in February that 2009 would be a year of tighter Internet
control because of key anniversaries of such events as
the founding of the People's Republic of China (October
1, 60th anniversary) and Tiananmen (June 4, 20th
anniversary).

"Vulgar" Political Debate
--------------


3. (C) Contacts said that the "anti-vulgarity" (fan disu)
campaign initiated on January 5 (see ref),ostensibly to
remove sexually explicit material from the Internet, was
being used to limit discussion of politically sensitive
topics. Wang Zhongxia (protect),a Charter 08 signer who
regularly uses his blog to advocate for pro-democracy
political causes, said on March 18 that the anti-
vulgarity campaign was "primarily" aimed at politically
sensitive Internet discussions. As evidence, Wang noted
that Chinese netizens had "little difficulty" viewing
sexually explicit material online but politically
sensitive material was becoming harder to view. Ping Ke
(protect),a popular and outspoken blogger and
journalist, said on March 5 that while the campaign might
originally have been conceived to combat pornographic
material, "a lot of political material had also been
censored." According to Liu Xiaoyuan, the Beijing-based
lawyer, the Chinese government chose the word "vulgarity"
(disu) to describe the object of the current campaign
because the term was vague and could include political
content. Campaigns in the past had been more
specifically aimed at pornography, said Liu.

Censorship for Social Stability?
--------------


4. (C) According to Liu Xiaoyuan, the main impetus for
the increased censorship was "fear of social
instability." Liu noted that the official Chinese media
predicted China would face many social stability
challenges in 2009 and the government was therefore
"taking preemptive action" against envelope-pushing
Internet media. Liu Zhengrong, Deputy Director General
of the State Council Information Office's Department of
Internet Administration, told EmbOffs on April
2 that it was "especially important during this time of
financial crisis to guard against information online that
might cause instability." Liu said that the Chinese
government censored online content related to "Taiwan,
Tibet, Falungong and terrorism" because of those issues'
potential to cause "social instability." Liu noted that
China had recently blocked access to the video-sharing
website Youtube because of content related to Tibet that

BEIJING 00001206 002 OF 002


was "aimed at causing trouble" (naoshi) and "could
influence social stability." Liu, however, denied that
the anti-vulgarity campaign was in any way political,
asserting that its purpose was "to allow children to go
online safely." Liu noted that the campaign was "still
going on" and involved all six Chinese government
agencies with a hand in Internet management.

No Censorship like Self-Censorship
--------------


5. (C) Li Yanhong (protect),founder and CEO of Baidu,
China's most popular search engine, told PolOffs on
February 12 that his company was required to be proactive
about deleting "vulgar" material. Baidu, Li said,
employed people to ensure that objectionable content did
not appear on Baidu websites or in Baidu search results.
Li noted that what was considered vulgar was "entirely
subjective" and Baidu felt compelled to delete material
that "smaller websites" might be able to post. According
to Liu Zhengrong, individual Internet Service Providers
(ISPs) were responsible for deleting or censoring
objectionable material from their systems. Wang Zhongxia
noted that the consequences for failure to police one's
own website could include a forced shutdown of an entire
site. According to Wang, Luo Yonghao's popular blog-
hosting site, Bullog, had been shut down because Luo had
failed "to self-censor political discussion" on the blogs
he hosted. Wang said that he and others had used Bullog
to promote Charter 08 before the site was taken off line.

Comment: Down But Not Out
--------------


6. (C) While contacts report tighter control of political
discussion on the Chinese Internet, these controls have
not stopped all online political discussion nor
completely cowed China's more outspoken bloggers. Ping
Ke reacted angrily to the implication that he might self-
censor in the current environment, pointing to his recent
discussion of the Tiananmen massacre (though referred to
euphemistically as "6-4") as evidence that he had not
been intimidated. Similarly, Wang Zhongxia and Liu
Xiaoyuan have continued to post articles promoting their
political views online.
PICCUTA