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Digital Censorship Internet

What challenges do state-controlled media face in a new global, digital age? Refer to current issues surrounding the relationship between state and media censorship in at least one national context.

With the proliferation of information and communication technology (ICT) in modern society, a vast amount of opportunities for new means of global communication have arisen. The Internet stands at the forefront of this technological revolution, with its global presence and significance increasing daily ever since it’s creation in the 1970s. As a result, this has seen a number of scholars come to believe that the use of this ICT, in particular the Internet, could penetrate national barriers of previously closed regimes.

However, although it is apparent that some authoritarian regimes have fallen during the rise of ICT, most notably the Soviet Union, a significant link between the two has never been substantiated, primarily due to a lack of conclusive evidence. Work by scholars has provided no real support for this revolutionary ideal and a number of case studies from across the globe show that oppressive regimes are finding new ways to counter and even control the political impact of ICT.

Perhaps the most notable case exists in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), where modern technologies, such as the Internet, are censored in accordance with a series of laws and administrative regulations passed by the dominant communist government. While the long-term political impact of the Internet remains completely unforeseeable, Shanthi Kalathil, an established scholar in the field of the political impact of information and communication technology, believes that it is apparent that these strategies for control may continue to be feasible in the short term.

The communist regime of the PRC, which began with Mao Zedong in 1949, has seen a long and seemingly successful history of control over several developments in ICT and has more recently taken firm control of most Internet developments within their borders. However, this apparent state driven hegemony has recently come under potential threat from the counter-hegemony of the Chinese masses. With figures of an estimated 33.7 million Internet users by the end of 2001, China’s growing new media sector provides the means to potentially challenge state authority in several areas.

It is believed that the public masses, civil society, the economy, and the international community all stand to be tested in this new global, digital age, while the authoritarian states appear to respond to these challenges with a variety of reactive measures, including restricting Internet access, filtering content, monitoring online behavior, and even prohibiting Internet use entirely.

In an ever changing digital age, it is almost impossible to predict the impact future technologies will have state-controlled media; however, currently it appears that many authoritarian states are successfully manipulating ICT to their advantage, limiting its ability to provide counter-hegemony and even cultural imperialism.

State-controlled media has had an illustrious history with its dominance first beginning to take shape in the late 19^th century. The revolutionary production of the printing press and the early creation of newspapers presented an opportunistic situation which was seized by state authorities in an attempt to influence the masses within their respective countries. From the offset, heavy censorship and almost complete state control were synonymous with early forms of media, including newspapers, magazines, posters, radio and early forms of television.

Instances of war and conflict across history have only increased state security and seen tighter censorship inflicted on all media within the home fronts. The perfect example of media manipulation can be seen throughout the propagandistic campaigns of the Second World War. Joseph Goebbels, the minister of German propaganda from 1933-1938, is often recognised as a master propagandist who not only orchestrated one of the most controversial political campaigns to have ever existed, but also managed to gain support for the seemingly contentious Nazi Party from a previously divided nation.

However, developments in technologies across the years have seen state-controlled media face new challenges in not only civil society, but also in the economy and the international community. The Internet stands as the most significant advancement in modern times. The capabilities of the personal computer (PC) have changed greatly since the introduction of electronic computers. By the early 1970s, people in academic institutions had the opportunity for single-person use of a computer system for extended durations, although these systems would still have been too expensive to be owned by the public.

The introduction of the microprocessor, a single chip with all the circuitry that formerly occupied large cabinets, led to the proliferation of personal computers after about 1975. This increase in the accessibility of PCs provided the means and capability for the use of the Internet on a global scale. By the end of the 20^th century, individuals could connect and communicate with each other right across the globe, creating what Frank Morelli sees as a ‘global village’.

Originally established by Marshall McLuhan, this concept is one which sees the world interconnected through a series of electronic communications; “where the interests of each person, each family, each factor, depends upon the interests of many, and even, all of the others”. It is this theory which threatens to undermine authoritarian regimes which have previously prided themselves on almost total domination of all aspects of the media within their nation state. Perhaps the most fitting example of this can be seen in the PRC.

Traditionally, China’s media developments under the oppressive regime of the Communist Party are cited to be the main cause of the political sensitivity surrounding their new media sector. China has been strictly governed by the Communist Party since 1949, gaining power after the close of the Chinese Civil War. Initially, the party, then fronted by Mao Zedong, inundated the Chinese masses with messages that served to cement the Party’s ideological hegemony, a practice known as ‘thought work’.

Policies of tight control and complete state censorship affected all sectors of traditional media including the newspapers, radio and television. All opposing political views were ignored and completely disregarded, while any active opposition to Mao Zedong’s authoritarian regime was met with severe contempt and almost certain death. With the technological advancements of the 1980s, a shift in the use of modern media took place, with a higher priority placed upon economic development especially in the fields of business information and entertainment.

Subsequently, the commercialisation and information revolution of China have been the dominant factor in shaping the development of their media sector. With China’s economy standing currently as the fourth largest in the world, with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of 24.66 trillion Yuan ($3.42 trillion), this switch in the focus of the media is sighted by some academics as weakening state control. Shanthi Kalathil believes that this economically driven shift has limited the country’s capacity to disseminate ideology through the media.

Seemingly the Internet has acted as a vital tool in weakening the state’s power over information resources from both domestic and international sources. Along with this, commercial pressures have been a primary factor behind the diversification and partial professional manor of traditional media, such as state-owned newspapers and television stations. With fewer state subsidies and heightened profit concerns, state-controlled media are increasingly exploring previously taboo avenues of journalistic development, such as investigative journalism, in order to boost readership.

As a further precaution to this apparent rise of counter-hegemony, the Communist government have been overtly censoring large sections of the Internet, in an attempt to limit external influences and opposing view points on social, political and economic thinking throughout China. A rise in the government's effort to counteract these critical online opinions came after a series of demonstrations and human rights protests by the Chinese masses. The use of various methods of ICT, including instant messaging services, chatrooms and text messages played a crucial role in the planning and organisation of many of theses protests.

Seemingly, the government are becoming increasingly aware to the dangers that these advancements in technology are posing to state-control, with the creation of an intrusive Internet police force further restricting freedom of speech. Estimated at more than 30,000, the cyber force are responsible for monitoring and censoring the countless critical comments which appear on many Internet forums of major Chinese websites. Recently, all postings that blamed slow-moving police or corrupt local officials for the deaths of 88 children in the floods of June 2005 were removed almost as soon as they appeared.

What appears to be an extremely labor intensive task, is one which the results can never really be measured. However effective this Internet censorship may prove to be, government officials realize that they must do more in order to maintain the state’s total dominance and role in shaping the ideological environment of Chinese society. With private organisations gaining more influence in information distribution across the media of China, the government are increasingly seeking to influence privately run Internet companies.

A combination of harsh regulations, economic incentives and coercive tactics are currently being used to manipulate the private media sector in favor of the Communist government. Although the Internet has undoubtedly provided the means for counter-hegemony within the PRC, the Communist government are currently maintaining a majority of dominance over such ICT, and ultimate upholding the hegemony over China’s media sector.

Along with imposing firm control and censorship over the majority of the ICT which seemingly threatens the Communist government, state officials are also moving to use these new technologies for their own propagandistic gain. Political messages and state approved media are being broadcast to the nation through a series of newly created state-run web sites, as well as the pre-existing national newspapers and government-run television channels.

This new varied form of media has been set up to disseminate the state’s perspective on current events, seeming to overtly encouraging Chinese audiences to readily comply with the state. The national state-run newspapers have also met the demands of this digital age by creating websites with “a lively, modern portal that contrasts sharply with the print edition”. Examples of this can be seen in the Peoples Daily and Hua Sheng Bao, with both websites featuring an array of top news stories from within China and the rest of the world as well as inevitably censored forums for discussion on certain news events and stories. Both websites are also available in several languages, slightly differing in content to that of the Chinese versions.

The online English version of the People’s Daily, seeks to present China’s modern face to the world by featuring news as well as links to controversial material such as articles written by Chinese officials. In addition to this apparent distribution of pro-communist propaganda throughout the global Internet, Taylor Boas believes that China is reviving the idea of a national Intranet.

In theory it would be designed to act as a substitute for the global Internet by providing online services coupled with acceptable content for Chinese society. Although this plan has been discussed and deferred for a number of years, its recent revival as a national priority demonstrates the state's continued worry about the infiltration of foreign ideas and its determination to take an active stance in addressing this.

Internet companies around the globe undoubtedly have a substantial impact on the business sector in China, in much the same way that the Internet has revolutionized business practices around the globe. The example of China has shown that state-controlled media face numerous challenges with the rise of new global, digital age. Firstly, the revolution in ICT, in particularly the Internet, has seen the mass society of China gain a means of information communication with which to rival that of state produced media.

The ever growing number of Internet users from within the PRC, means that the existence of counter-hegemony in a totalitarian regime has finally become an easier concept to fathom. However, as Shanthi Kalathil argues, state hegemony has not really been greatly affected despite a drastic increase in the use of new technologies throughout China. This is mainly due to the precautionary censorship and policy of state propaganda adopted throughout a majority of Chinese media. Secondly, greater access to external sources of information media has seen previously dominant state-controlled sources face new challenges.

Once again, the wave of new technology has opened up an abundance of diversity in the information that is broadcast to the Chinese masses. However, state censorship still remains dominant in controlling the flow of media which Chinese audience can access. At the moment, the state still controls the fortunes of all those working in the Internet sector, giving it the power to shape the overall information environment even if it can no longer control it explicitly.

Foreign and domestic Internet companies seem likely to play a limited role in promoting political liberalization, especially if many choose to continue their policy of cooperation and consultation, rather than confrontation with the state. Finally, the governments move to counter this new wave of information technology by establishing a series of new propagandistic websites, suggests an apparent fear of this new ICT.

With further contemplation over a state-run Intranet system to replace the current global Internet, it is apparent that the Communist Party are fearful of any criticism or opposing political opinion to be broadcast to the nation. However, despite this apparent fear, the Chinese government are still maintaining a policy of state media hegemony and are seemingly adapting to changes within ICT in order to continue doing so.

When looking at the wider picture, it is inevitable that new technologies will continue to pose problems for state-controlled media, not only in terms of maintaining an authoritarian rule over society, but also in preserving dominance over the economy and civil society.

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