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Internet Freedom – The Fight is On

3-29-2010

By Elisa Massimino
Crossposted from Huffington Post

A student at an American university Googles “Tiananmen Square” from her dorm room. Among the hundreds of hits that will surface are photographs and reports stemming from the 1989 protest that followed the death of Chinese pro-democracy official Hu Yaobang. Scrolling down, she will learn that Chinese troops killed hundreds of protesters who were gathered in Tiananmen Square to voice their support for democracy and call for an end to government corruption.

Halfway around the world, when a Chinese student sits down at her computer and conducts the same Google search, her results will tell a much different story about Tiananmen Square. She will not find information about the massacre that occurred in 1989. Instead, she will view photos depicting this beautiful plaza and learn that Tiananmen Square is the largest city square in the world.

This example demonstrates the great divide between Internet users in the United States and users in China, Iran, Eqypt, Venezuela, Russia and other nations that censor access to information on the web. These governments say they restrict Internet freedom to protect their citizens and combat problems such as pornography, terrorism and hate speech. These problems are real, but as Secretary of State Clinton recognized in her speech on Internet freedom, “these challenges must not become an excuse for governments to systematically violate the rights and privacy of those who use the internet for peaceful political purposes.”

Last December, Google reportedly became aware that its networks, as well as the networks of 20 other companies, were the target of Chinese hackers. Google further determined that its Gmail accounts were not secure and that human rights activists in China were being targeted. According to published reports, those events proved to be the last straw for Google, which has struggled to maintain its delicate relationship with the Chinese government since its decision in 2006 to offer a censored version of its search engine there. Though Google has always known that government censorship would be a key condition for tapping into China’s lucrative market, the company had hoped its investment might lead to a more open society. Instead, China has continued to enforce a parallel, closed Internet system that conflicts with the core values of Google and many of the global companies that continue to operate in China. When the Chinese government refused to work with Google to address these important human rights concerns, Google apparently concluded it had no option but to shut down its search operation in China.

Last week, GoDaddy.com followed Google’s example and announced that it would no longer register domain names in China. Importantly, GoDaddy made public the Chinese governments insistence that it receive extensive user information as a condition of domain name registration. It also announced that China’s demands for user information had made it impossible for GoDaddy to continue to operate in China without violating its core corporate principles.

Unlike users in China, Google’s users in Hong Kong enjoy unfettered Internet access—for now. But Google’s announcement that it will redirect users in China to its search engine in Hong Kong could create problems for the company’s operations there. Though it remains to be seen whether China will seek to disrupt Google’s services in Hong Kong, it is clear that China will not abandon its model of a closed Internet and will continue to export its model to other like minded governments with which it shares strategic and commercial ties.

Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft have joined the Global Network Initiative, a multistakeholder initiative created to address threats to Internet freedom. Working closely with other GNI members, these corporate pioneers already have acknowledged publicly that Internet freedom and user privacy are important human rights that transcend political beliefs and boundaries. The Global Network Initiative offers those companies, and all companies in the ICT industry, a way to work collaboratively to devise effective strategies for resisting government threats to freedom of expression and privacy and ensuring respect for human rights in their global operations.

The stakes in this fight are clear. All ICT companies—regardless of where they may operate today—should care deeply about what happens to Google and GoDaddy in the months ahead. Next time, other ICT companies could be targeted by government censorship, surveillance or hacking in their operations around the world.

In withdrawing from China, Google and GoDaddy have put a spotlight on the high stakes of the global battle for Internet freedom. For the companies, it’s about market access and commercial expansion into the developing world. For both the companies and their users, it’s also about the quality and integrity of the services available. This fight will require companies, investors, academics and non-governmental organizations that care about the human rights of Internet freedom and privacy, and countries around the world, to band together in support of Internet access to all, for all.


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Posted in Blog | 14 Comments »

  • cybrgrace7

    >The U.S. government constantly taps our email, phone and library accounts without our knowledge:
    http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2008/09/17-0

    Activist media collectives are routinely illegally criminalized:
    - http://www.democracynow.org/2008/9/4/i_witness_video_collective_forced_out
    - http://nyc.indymedia.org/feature/display/126066/

    Thousands of activists were illegally arrested at nonviolent antiwar demonstrations at the start of the Iraq war (the biggest such arrest in NYC was: http://ccrjustice.org/ourcases/current-cases/kunstler-v.-city-new-york).

    On October 1, 2009 Twitter activists where arrested, their home ransacked and all their computer equipment stolen as part of an ongoing U.S. government crack-down on left political speech and nonviolent expression of dissent. Twitter should be allowed at U.S. protests — not just Iran!
    - http://iwitnessvideo.info/

    We should not be promoting legislation that gives the U.S. government more power to oppress activists. We can help Chinese, Iranian AND U.S. activists fight government censorship.

  • Lemonade!

    >why dost thy logo look so much like the logo of Ubuntu?

    • Tsui King

      that because they used ubuntu os on their computer.

    • Jaelyn

      Great article but it didn’t have erevythnig—I didn’t find the kitchen sink!

  • foreign student in china

    i am living in china since 2006.
    there were we allowed to surfing in cybercafe,but after the olympics chinese government banned foreigners’s entry in cybercafe…so we can not seat on internet,now a days we have only way to get internet access is from library’s internet and can only get in room,like this there are many things from which we always dissatisfied in china…i hate china’s government but like chinese people.

  • Bruce

    I don’t know about you guys, but i do know one thing there is free speech in China, its stated in the constitution, and also haven’t you noticed that the government doesn’t arrest people that exercise the right of free speech? They target them, then charge them with an economic crime or some random crime they have commited. Yes, they are allowed to have free speech, they are allowed to speak, even if we say thats not fair the people still commited a crime.

    The government is what the government shall be, no matter we hate it or not. The foreigners like me in China don’t like the censorship of China’s internet becuase WE don’t have direct access to Facebook or Youtube. What we could do is to download a desktop (not web based) bunny hole (or VPN). Since we foreigners are too lazy to click activate button we oin the riot and protesters that China block’s its internet too much.

    What China does is China’s problem. Western countries such as the United States (don’t get me wrong, I love my country) has stuck it’s nose into to much stuff. We, and other western countries, keep saying; “Oh China, your blocking too much stuff you HAVE to unblock them for your people!” WHAO WHAO WHAO wait a second. First of all its none of our problems, it’s their country. Second, we have our own problems, instead of caring about how much they censor why don’t we get rid of our debt? third, the second China lets everything in, theres going to be riots, protests, and many other western influences. Eventually China will become democracy then, then after that the bigger democratic governments and countries, such as the US, is gonna tell China: you can’t have such a big military, you are going to GIVE US clearance into your territory and make thousands of military bases, then your going to support us in OUR economic problems so you can go in debt but we must be there in the world and in Iraq to fight the terrorists in the name of JUSTICE!

    1.3billion people is 20% of the worlds population. We aren’t only dealing with some easy thing, we force chaos upon China we’ll have 20% of the world in chaos, but noooooo we’re willing to take the risk as long as its good for us.

    By the way i’d like to say, i dunno about you other americans out there like me, but I have read the constitution and many laws that my father had in document and the US has the same power, They can switch it on or off. We, the foreigners in China, are only pissed (excuse my language) because its not good for US. the chinese have xiao nei (equivalent to facebook and even in their own language), they also have youku (same case).

    Before we start hating for our own good, why don’t we stop and take a second to think about why do they do this and who is it really for. sure the chinese government has done some unreasonable things but haven’t we? (Guantanamo?) does that spark any….insights? The reason for blocking in olympic is for saftey of most people visiting China. after? i can go into the internet cafe, i dunno about you. there are many dissatisfied things i have in China but more in the US because weren’t we gonna get the heck out of Iraq? my emails are allowed to be hacked by the us government if they think i’m a terrorist. everyone thats not white skinned (do not want to be much racist, but we’ve had a long racists history) are not pretty much terrorists. There are many problems in all the countries..don’t just pin point one becuase your in it and it does something thats not good for you but good for its people.

    By the way….I would hate to be walking in the streets of San Francisco then someone came up to me and be like “hey Chink (or whatever minority your in) i don’t like you” *pulls trigger on glock 18 with 33 round clip*

    • Paul

      Hi Bruce,

      Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

    • Paomo

      @ Bruce

      While I think you make very valid points, it’s a shame that you let yourself down by pretending to be somebody you are not. From the last few paragraphs it is clear you aren’t a native English speaker (or at least writer). Exhibit A: “…blocking in olympic is for saftey of most people…” Exhibit B: “…there are many dissatisfied things i have in China…” and Exhibit C: ‘…We aren’t only dealing with some easy thing…”

      All these mistakes are reminiscent of a Chinese learner of English. Good try though. Good studay day day up! :-}

      Be proud of who you are. Otherwise you succumb to inverted racism

  • http://www.googleseoer.info googleseoer

    It’s better to develop free vpn software to solve the problem,that’s the point.Complain about this couldn’t helpful.It’s hard for me to find useful message because of the GFW blocked a lots of website.

  • http://facebook.com franciz

    It’s Funny ahahhahaha………….

  • http://facebook.com kate

    ahhahhahahahah

  • http://jetic.tk Jetic

    …As a Chinese student…
    Our government is getting better and better everyday, you can’t expect china to become such a country like America, we are different, and also the definition of human rights. May I quote your American films witch I love so much: The needs of the many are greater than the needs of the few. In America you have more than 100 years of modern public education system establishment history, in China, we just started it no more than 30 years, most people don’t even know how to read a newspaper! Human rights under such situation needs to be protected in another way, the more the uneducated people know, like when you put these guy to vote for a president, they don’t even know what a president is! You can’t expect such people with no ability to judge the right and wrong, truth and false to know too much, right? As for details such as internet freedom, I just wanna say here I am. People who have knowledge knows how to break the GFW, we use our right wisely, and for those can’t, that’s another story, knowing too much for them will cause nothing but disaster. Take a moment to think about what I wrote, not everyone can be an American, the things you think you deserves are not always what you really deserves.

  • daniel

    jetic -
    i am a chinese.you are wrong .we know hao to read newspapers.we know what is a prisdent.you know GFW,you know everything,you know our goverment,you know that,but you donot know our people.

  • really

    I live in China and as long as you don’t irritate the gov you will be fine. try freedom of speach in the US these days and you get pepper sprayed even if your an 84 year old woman. I think it is time to stop attacking China so muc hand look in your own back yard because the fight should start there. yes there are things in China that need to be improved but there are things in every country that need to be improved. try freedom of speach in Saudi Arabia or even speaking about Jesus there and you’ll have your head chopped off. Now that is really nice. At least in China you’ll only get deported if that. China is not the evil monster most people are being led to believe it is, I know I live here and I find it a lot better than the US and so do a lot of others. Please get things staight and reveal what is stinking in your own backyard as well is all I am suggesting. Isn’t that right obama!!!!!!!!