Internet Development and Information Control in the People’s Republic of China Updated February 10 2006 Congressional Research Service https crsreports congress gov RL33167 SUMMARY Internet Development and Information Control in the People’s Republic of China RL33167 February 10 2006 Thomas Lum Specialist in Asian Affairs Since its founding in 1949 the People’s Republic of China PRC has exerted great effort in manipulating the flow of information and prohibiting the dissemination of viewpoints that criticize the government or stray from the official Communist party view The introduction of Internet technology in the mid-1990’s presented a challenge to government control over news sources and by extension over public opinion While the Internet has developed rapidly broadened access to news and facilitated mass communications in China many forms of expression online as in other mass media are still significantly stifled Empirical studies have found that China has one of the most sophisticated content-filtering Internet regimes in the world The Chinese government employs increasingly sophisticated methods to limit content online including a combination of legal regulation surveillance and punishment to promote self-censorship as well as technical controls U S government efforts to defeat Internet “jamming” include funding through the Broadcasting Board of Governors to provide counter-censorship software to Chinese Internet users to access Voice of America VOA and Radio Free Asia RFA in China As U S investments in China and bilateral trade have surged in the past several years and China has developed its communications infrastructure Chinese society has undergone rapid changes while the PRC government has continued to repress political dissent Many U S observers including government officials have argued that economic openness and the growth of the Internet in China would help bring about political liberalization in China However contrary to facilitating freedom some private U S companies have been charged with aiding or complying with Chinese Internet censorship Private U S companies that provide Internet hardware such as routers as well as those that provide Internet services such as Web-log blog hosting or search portals have been accused of ignoring international standards for freedom of expression when pursuing business opportunities in the PRC market In the 108th Congress the provisions of the “Global Internet Freedom Act” H R 48 were subsumed into the Foreign Relations Authorization Act of 2004-05 H R 1950 and passed by the House on July 16 2003 Christopher Cox reintroduced the bill H R 2216 to the 109th Congress in May 2005 If passed the act would authorize $50 million for FY2006 and FY2007 to develop and implement a global Internet freedom policy The act would also establish an office within the International Broadcasting Bureau with the sole mission of countering Internet jamming by repressive governments On February 1 2006 the Congressional Human Rights Caucus held a hearing entitled “Human Rights and the Internet — The People’s Republic of China ” On February 15 2006 the Subcommittee on Africa Global Human Rights and International Operations of the House International Relations Committee will hold a joint hearing with the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific regarding the Internet and censorship in China This report will be updated periodically Congressional Research Service Internet Development and Information Control in the People’s Republic of China Contents Internet Development and Use in China 1 Censorship and Content Control of the Internet 2 Methods of PRC Internet Censorship and Content Control 3 Legal Regulations 3 September 25 2005 Regulations 4 Technical Methods of Content Filtering 5 Cyber-Police Punitive Action and Self-Censorship 5 U S Private Sector Involvement in PRC Internet Censorship 6 Yahoo and Shi Tao Case 8 U S Government Efforts to Promote Unrestricted Internet Access in China 8 Congressional Action 8 International Broadcasting Bureau 9 Issues for U S Policy 10 Tables Table 1 Table 1 Broadcasting Board of Governors Funding for Counter-Censorship Technology in China 9 Contacts Author Information 11 Congressional Research Service Internet Development and Information Control in the People’s Republic of China The government of the People’s Republic of China PRC places strict limitations on its domestic and foreign news media Information that is considered “politically sensitive” or that conveys organized dissent and criticism of the Communist Party is not tolerated 1 As a result objective reporting on subjects such as China’s human rights record Tibetan independence Falun Gong Taiwan or the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown among other politically sensitive topics are largely absent in China Journalists have allegedly been harassed sometimes with violence and jailed for reporting content that is undesirable or that implicate government officials in corruption In addition to reporting that is critical of the government PRC leadership actively suppresses coverage of events that it considers a threat to social stability State coverups of the early spread of HIV AIDS the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome SARS outbreak in April 2003 and fatal industrial disasters are notable examples of issues that have been censored in the Chinese media 2 Internet Development and Use in China3 In the early stages of its development the Internet presented a challenge to Chinese government control over information flows and public opinion In pursuit of economic growth and modernization however the government actively promoted Internet development Because it is subject to PRC censorship yet continues to spread news across national borders the Internet has played a role in bringing international attention to issues forbidden in China including PRC censorship itself Since the country’s first connection in 1993 the Internet has experienced exponential growth in China 4 According to PRC data the number of Internet users in China not including Hong Kong Macau and Taiwan which has the second largest Internet population in the world reached 111 million in 2005 5 An official report also finds that over half of the users have broadband access 51% 55% have a college degree 60% are male and 71% are young under age 30 6 Another study estimates that there are currently up to 134 million Chinese Internet users approximately a fivefold increase from 23 million in 2001 7 Although 103 million or 134 million would account for only 8% or 10% of China’s population respectively Internet usage is expected to rise as China continues to promote Internet development and enjoy rapid economic growth As in the United States the Internet has already transformed the daily lives of many people in China Chinese citizens are able to use the Internet to communicate with others find entertainment engage in commercial activities obtain government services access a wide variety of cultural social and academic information and for some users learn about or discuss sensitive OpenNet Initiative “Internet Filtering in China in 2004-2005 A Country Study ” April 2005 http www opennetinitiative net studies china 2 He Qinglian “Media Control in China ” November 4 2004 China Rights Forum http www hrichina org public contents 8991 3 This report is a revised version of the original report by Michelle W Lau 4 Shanthi Kalathil and Taylor C Boas “Wired for Modernization in China” in Open Networks Closed Regimes 13 Washington DC Carnegie Endowment 2003 For an overview of the earlier development of China’s Internet industry see CRS Report RL30636 China’s Internet Industry by Thomas Lum 5 “More than 111M Chinese Log on ” Australian Broadcasting Corporation News January 19 2006 6 China Internet Network Information Center CNNIC 16th Statistical Survey Report on the Internet Development in China July 2005 Latest data can be found at http www cnnic net cn 7 “Net User Tally in China Nears 134 million ” South China Morning Post February 4 2005 at http www asiamedia ucla edu article asp parentid 20477 Kalathil and Boas op cit 23 1 Congressional Research Service 1 Internet Development and Information Control in the People’s Republic of China political news if only fleetingly 8 Despite censorship of news the Internet in China often disseminates forbidden information and opinions through e-mail instant messaging blogs and bulletin board forums or through political expressions disguised as non-political comments However nearly all such communications are eventually censored and offending texts are deleted by PRC authorities 9 Chinese studies have found that the majority of Internet users in China use the Internet for entertainment purposes 10 Notwithstanding the PRC government strictly controls news and political content online which has drawn the attention and criticism of many analysts and U S policymakers Censorship and Content Control of the Internet During the early days of the Internet in China some observers hoped that greater access to information brought about by this new technology would also encourage political expression and democracy in China Although there has been a documented expansion in the scope of permissible private speech in recent years the Chinese government has also intensified efforts to monitor and control use of the Internet and wireless technologies e g cellular phones 11 An often cited empirical study by the OpenNet Initiative a collaboration between Harvard Law School University of Toronto Citizen Lab and Cambridge Security Program found that China has the most sophisticated content-filtering Internet regime in the world 12 Compared to similar efforts in other countries the Chinese government effectively filters content by employing multiple methods of regulation and technical controls The PRC-sponsored news agency Xinhua stated that censorship targets “superstitious pornographic violence-related gambling and other harmful information ”13 However many observers are concerned about the pervasive filtering of any content that the Communist Party of China views as politically objectionable Informational websites including that of the BBC Voice of America Radio Free Asia and the public encyclopedia Wikipedia have been regularly blocked in China while other news sources such as the New York Times the Washington Post the South China Morning Post Hong Kong and CNN have been intermittently blocked 14 Sites that carry news in Chinese language generally face greater censorship obstacles than English-only sites In addition to censorship of news reports that may present the government in a negative light the Internet is used to channel and influence public opinion especially in support of nationalistic sentiments The People’s Daily a state-sponsored newspaper has an online bulletin board called the “Strong Nation Forum ” intended for discussion on how to make China a stronger nation The “China News agency reports on role of internet in people’s lives ” Xinhua News Agency October 7 2005 accessed via BBC Monitoring Media 9 “In China Information Slips Through the Net ” Washington Post January 15 2006 Bruce Einhorn “How China Controls the Internet ” BusinessWeek Online 10 Guo Liang Surveying Internet Usage and Impact in Twelve Chinese Cities Beijing Research Center for on Social Development Chinese Academy of Social Sciences 2005 11 U S Department of State Bureau of Democracy Human Rights and Labor Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2004 — China February 2005 12 OpenNet Initiative op cit 3 13 Chen Siwu and Yu Hong “China Holds Forum on ‘Cleaning’ Internet ” Xinhua News Agency October 17 2005 BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific 14 “China Blocks Access to Internet Encyclopedia ” Kyodo News October 26 2005 Open Net Initiative op cit 8 Congressional Research Service 2 Internet Development and Information Control in the People’s Republic of China forum hosted angry anti-Japanese postings in April 2005 during a political fallout between China and Japan concerning Japan’s alleged re-writing of wartime atrocities in its history textbooks 15 Earlier that year however when users visited the forum to mourn the death of former Communist Party General Secretary Zhao Ziyang moderators promptly removed messages of condolence Zhao had been stripped of his government position in 1989 largely for sympathizing with Tiananmen student protesters and was placed under house arrest His death in 2005 received only muted attention in the national media reflecting the government’s fear of renewing public calls for a reversal of the official verdict on the Tiananmen demonstrations and the rehabilitation of those condemned during the crackdown 16 Methods of PRC Internet Censorship and Content Control In order to suppress politically sensitive or undesirable content online the PRC has adopted two main strategies First the Chinese government employs a complex system of regulations surveillance and punitive action to promote self-censorship among the public Second the government uses technology and human monitors to physically filter unwanted content Legal Regulations Since the commercialization of the Internet in 1995 the PRC government has issued extensive regulations regarding Internet usage Because these regulations often overlap are regularly updated and are created and carried out by multiple government agencies the legal infrastructure regarding Internet usage in China is extraordinarily complex At least 12 different government agencies are involved in Internet regulation which are directed at Internet service and content providers cyber-café operators and Internet users themselves 17 Internet service providers ISPs must obtain an operating license from the Ministry of Information Industry MII and record each customer’s account number phone number IP address sites visited and time spent online Internet content providers ICPs that publish information operate electronic bulletin boards or engage in journalism must record all content made available and the date it was issued For both service and content providers these records must be maintained for 60 days and surrendered to relevant government agencies upon request 18 After obtaining permission to open an Internet café café operators are required to install software that blocks pornographic and “subversive” content keep detailed logs linking users to the pages they visited and record visits to any blocked pages and report these to the Public Security Bureau 19 As with ISPs and ICPs cafes must retain this information for 60 days PRC authorities reportedly closed 47 000 unlicensed Internet cafes in 2004 while installing monitoring software in others 20 “China Japan Eye Textbook Tension ” BBC World Monitoring April 11 2005 “Muted Goodbye to Chinese Reformer ” BBC News January 29 2005 17 OpenNet Intiative op cit 8 For complete list of these agencies see Appendix 2 18 Measure for the Administration of Internet Information Services September 25 2000 translation available at http www cecc gov pages virtualAcad exp explaws php 19 OpenNet Intiative op cit 11 20 “China Closes 47 000 Internet Cafes in 2004 ” Xinhua News Agency March 1 2005 BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific 15 16 Congressional Research Service 3 Internet Development and Information Control in the People’s Republic of China In addition to regulations directed at Internet service and content providers this complex legal infrastructure is also extended to Internet users themselves The Ministry of Public Security took initial steps to control Internet use in 1997 when it issued comprehensive regulations governing internet use Selected portions of three key sections Articles 4-6 are presented here Individuals are prohibited from using the Internet to harm national security disclose state secrets or injure the interests of the state or society 4 Users are prohibited from using the Internet to create replicate retrieve or transmit information that incites resistance to the PRC Constitution laws or administrative regulations promotes the overthrow of the government or socialist system undermines national unification distorts the truth spreads rumors or destroys social order or provides sexually suggestive material or encourages gambling violence or murder 5 Users are prohibited from engaging in activities that harm the security of computer information networks and from using networks or changing network resources without prior approval 6 21 September 25 2005 Regulations On July 1 2005 Chinese authorities shut down thousands of websites that had not registered with the government Following this stringent measure in September 2005 the PRC State Council and the MII announced new rules regarding the administration of the Internet These new rules formalized interim provisions enacted in 2000 which established general Internet content regulations and a mandatory system of licensing and registration for those engaged in “Internet information services ”22 In addition to combining and clarifying earlier provisions the new rules both tighten control over online news services and define them more broadly They stipulate that private individuals or groups must register as “news organizations” before they can operate websites or e-mail distribution lists that spread news or commentary Because a news organization is required to employ experienced staff have registered premises capital and a transparent system of operation whereby writings can be attributed approval will likely be difficult for many individuals and private groups 23 Websites and popular Internet portals such as Sina com or Sohu com must publish only news items without commentary even though commentary is often a staple of Weblogs or “blogs ”24 According to the PRC news agency Xinhua electronic bulletin board systems BBS and cell-phone text messages that contain news content are also subject to these regulations 25 In addition two new stipulations indicate increased Communist government concerns about civil unrest The first bans Internet news services from inciting illegal assemblies marches and demonstrations the other prohibits activity on behalf of illegal civil groups 26 The complex legal infrastructure governing Internet usage in China also includes punitive measures for those who violate the regulations Under the September 2005 rules websites that distribute news without government authorization are under the threat of closure and fines of up 21 Computer Information Network and Internet Security Protection and Management Regulations translation and summary in OpenNet Initiative op cit 22 Rules on the Administration of Internet News Information Services translation available at http www cecc gov pages virtualAcad index phpd showsingle 24396 23 “China Internet Government Tightens Controls Again ” Economist Intelligence Unit October 12 2005 24 Joseph Kahn “China Tightens its Restrictions for News Media on the Internet ” New York Times September 26 2005 25 “China Tightens Supervision over Online News Services ” China Daily September 26 2005 26 Anick Jesdanun “China Targets Tech-savvy Protesters ” Contra Costa Times October 2 2005 Congressional Research Service 4 Internet Development and Information Control in the People’s Republic of China to 30 000 yuan US$3 700 27 Similar penalties and fees exist for website operators who fail to register with the government and in serious cases their network access would be terminated However some Internet portals or websites reportedly often drag their feet when complying with official censorship directives in order to attract or maintain market share 28 Technical Methods of Content Filtering China censors the Internet through website blocking and key word filtering primarily at the router level Routers are devices through which packets of data are directed until they reach their final destination In China routers are programmed to channel Uniform Resource Locators URLs through proxy servers which look for politically sensitive words such as “falun” as in “www faluninfo net” of the banned Falun Gong spiritual movement and send back an error message e g “file not found” to the Internet user who requested the page Internet search results are similarly blocked For example although the phrase “Taiwan independence ” may not be part of a website URL entering this phrase into a search engine would result in a URL followed by those words i e http www google com search Taiwan Independence which would trigger the router to filter and block the search results 29 The OpenNet Initiative found that China tolerates occasional over-blocking as the price of preventing access to prohibited sites 30 Cyber-Police Punitive Action and Self-Censorship For those websites that bypass automated filtering China’s Ministry of Public Security MPS reportedly employs 30 000 human monitors or “cyber-police ” to monitor Internet content 31 This cyber-police force established in 2000 operates as a division within the police departments of 700 cities and provinces in China Along with investigating online crimes such as spreading viruses pornography or attempting financial fraud the cyber-police monitor websites and e-mail content and remove objectionable or subversive material 32 In addition to an established Internet police force the Chinese government solicits help from citizens themselves to monitor Internet content In July 2004 the MPS established a network of online reporting centers accompanied by a rewards component that encourages citizens to report “illegal” or “harmful” information 33 Xinhua News Agency disclosed that by October 2004 50 citizens were rewarded 500-2 000 yuan $62-$247 for reporting pornography and 18 citizens were rewarded 3 000 to 10 000 yuan $370-$1 235 for reporting illegal online gambling Although Xinhua did not disclose statistics for citizens who reported “subversive” political “China Internet Cracking down as China Opens up” Economist Intelligence Unit October 4 2005 “In China Information Slips Through the Net ” op cit 29 Testimony of Kenneth Berman Director of Information Technology International Broadcasting Bureau before the U S -China Economic and Security Review Commission April 14 2005 30 OpenNet Intiative op cit 51 31 U S Department of State Bureau of Democracy Human Rights and Labor op cit Traci E Carpenter “Great Firewall ” MSNBC com July 21 2005 32 Testimony of Xiao Qiang Director of China Internet Project UC Berkeley before the U S -China Economic and Security Review Commission April 14 2004 and Steven Cherry “The Net Effect ” Spectrum June 2005 33 Foreign Broadcasting Information Service FBIS “Analysis PRC Solicits Citizen Help in Controlling Internet Content ” August 19 2005 27 28 Congressional Research Service 5 Internet Development and Information Control in the People’s Republic of China content the guidelines on the cyber-police website state that citizen vigilance should not be limited to reporting pornography but should extend to online political activities as well 34 China reportedly holds between 15 and 54 “cyber dissidents” in prison for posting messages or articles on the Internet that were considered subversive 35 Amnesty International stated that some cyber dissidents were charged with revealing state secrets or endangering state security and received prison sentences of two to twelve years 36 Although the government generally does not prosecute citizens who receive dissident e-mail publications forwarding such messages sometimes results in detention The detainment of Internet political writers reflects Chinese repression of free media in general according to the Committee to Protect Journalists in 2005 32 journalists were imprisoned in the PRC 37 Since prohibited topics such as “state secrets” have not been clearly defined by PRC authorities many reporters writers and Internet users exercise selfcensorship to avoid the risk of losing their jobs or facing criminal liability 38 U S Private Sector Involvement in PRC Internet Censorship Within the United States there has been considerable discussion surrounding the alleged complicity of private U S companies in the development and maintenance of PRC Internet filtering Some contend that when presented with large profit potential U S corporations are willing to overlook violations of freedom of expression in China Others argue that despite problems with censorship regarding a limited number of topics U S investment in China’s Internet industry has led to the greater flow of global information in the country Some analysts suggest that China’s sophisticated Internet infrastructure would not be possible without technology and equipment imported from U S and other foreign companies For China’s latest network upgrade “CN2 ” which began in mid-2004 two U S companies Cisco Systems and Juniper Networks were granted four out of six contracts Cisco Systems a U S telecommunications equipment company has previously faced allegations that it assisted China in developing censorship capabilities 39 In its recent router contract for CN2 Cisco will provide China with its 12000 Series routers which are equipped with filtering capability typically used to prevent Internet attacks i e worms and viruses This technology can also be used by PRC authorities to block politically sensitive content 40 Derek Bambauer a researcher at the OpenNet Initiative believes that without this upgrade routers in China are not searching deeply within packets of data for banned keywords because it would put an enormous load on the routers Some contend that Cisco routers and the CN2 network upgrade may enable Chinese authorities to 34 http cyberpolice cn Jonathan Watts “Internet Censorship ” The Guardian January 25 2006 “USA Watchdog Claims China and Cuba are Top Jailers of Journalists ” BBC December 14 2005 “Internet Under Surveillance 2004 ” Reporters Sans Frontieres at http www rsf org 36 “Controls Tighten as Internet Activism Grows ” Amnesty International January 28 2004 37 Testimony of Frank Smyth Representative from the Committee to Protect Journalists before the U S -China Economic and Security Review Commission on April 14 2005 38 He Qinglian op cit 39 Ethan Gutman Losing the New China A Story of American Commerce Desire and Betrayal Encounter Books 2004 40 The OpenNet Intiative op cit 35 Congressional Research Service 6 Internet Development and Information Control in the People’s Republic of China employ more sophisticated keyword filtering 41 Cisco denies allegations that it has altered its products to suit the objectives of PRC cyber-policing Cisco has declared that it does not tailor its products to the China market and the products it sells in China are the same as those in other countries 42 In addition to U S companies such as Cisco that provide hardware a number of U S software and Internet service providers such as Yahoo and Microsoft have been accused of complying with censorship in China 43 In 2002 Yahoo was condemned by human rights groups for voluntarily signing a pledge of “self-discipline ” promising to follow China’s censorship laws In June 2005 Microsoft’s blog-hosting service MSN Spaces began removing words like “democracy” and “human rights” from use in Chinese blog titles and postings 44 In December 2005 human rights activists criticized Microsoft after the company at the PRC government’s behest removed the MSN Spaces Web log of a well-known Chinese journalist Zhao Jing Zhao who worked for the Beijing Bureau of the New York Times occasionally broached sensitive political topics on his blog such as a recent strike at a city newspaper In January 2006 Microsoft announced a new policy for foreign countries whereby the company would close personal Web logs only if presented with a legally-binding order inform its users of the reason for the removal and continue to make such blogs accessible in other countries 45 In January 2006 Google announced that it would launch a search engine in China Google’s U S -based site currently is the second-most popular search engine in China despite the PRC government’s occasional blocking of it with an estimated 23% share of the market after the Chinese Internet content provider Baidu 37% and followed closely by Yahoo 21% Google will not offer e-mail or blog services in China in order to avoid the possibility of having to divulge private Internet user information to the PRC government Google reportedly will comply with PRC laws regarding censorship of information deemed inappropriate or illegal but plans to disclose when such information was removed for censorship purposes 46 Paris-based Reporters without Borders reacted to the Google announcement by stating that “it was a black day for freedom of expression in China ”47 Other U S companies such as Secure Computing Fortinet and Websense have also been accused of aiding China’s Internet filtering capabilities but the evidence currently available does not appear to indicate their direct involvement in the PRC government’s national censorship system In 2004 Secure Computing which makes Internet filtering software sold authentication systems or user identification systems to China’s major telecommunications companies Fortinet sells anti-virus firewall technology to Internet governmental educational retail and foreign business institutions and establishments in China Websense reportedly provides Web filtering and monitoring software to Chinese companies Websense spokespersons have stated that the company has not licensed the PRC government to use its technology to censor personal Internet Steven Cherry “The Net Effect ” Spectrum Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc EEEI June 2005 Kevin Poulsen “Critics Squeeze Cisco Over China ” Wired News July 29 2005 at http www wired com 43 Tina Rosenberg “Building the Great Firewall of China with Foreign Help ” The New York Times September 18 2005 Fang Yuan “Microsoft Filters ‘Democracy’ in China” Radio Free Asia June 20 2005 44 “Microsoft Censors Chinese Blogs ” BBC News June 14 2005 45 “Microsoft Amends Policies Regarding Blog Shutdowns ” San Jose Mercury News January 31 2006 46 Most search engines in China will simply post a message “This page cannot be displayed” when requested information is censored 47 http www rsf org 41 42 Congressional Research Service 7 Internet Development and Information Control in the People’s Republic of China access and that it would decline to sell its products to the PRC government if they would be used for nationwide censorship purposes 48 Yahoo and Shi Tao Case Yahoo has come under fire for giving the personal e-mail address of a Chinese journalist Shi Tao to PRC government authorities which led to his criminal conviction and sentence of 10 years in prison In April 2004 Shi who was an editor at Contemporary Business News based in Hunan province attended an editorial meeting in which government officials read an internal document outlining media restrictions before the 15th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown in June 2004 Shi sent copies of his notes via his personal Yahoo e-mail account to a pro-democracy organization in the United States PRC state security authorities later requested information from Yahoo that enabled them to identify Shi and use it in his conviction Jerry Yang co-founder and senior executive of Yahoo confirmed that his company gave Chinese authorities information and described the company’s compliance as part of the legal burden of doing business in China 49 U S Government Efforts to Promote Unrestricted Internet Access in China Some U S officials have expressed their belief that the growth of the Internet and other information technologies will help bring about wide-scale democratization abroad Former U S Secretaries of State James A Baker and Madeleine Albright are quoted as supporting information technologies in foreign countries as a way to promote their eventual democratization 50 U S Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has also made statements on the importance of political freedoms in China “Every society has to be vigilant against another type of Great Wall a wall that limits speech information and choices ”51 The State Department has censured the Chinese government by including an explanation of the PRC’s media and Internet controls and related persecution of political dissidents in its annual human rights report 52 However aside from diplomatic rebukes of China’s restrictions on freedom expression U S actions to combat Internet censorship in China have primarily been in the form of funding for anti-censorship software Congressional Action In the 108th Congress Representatives Christopher Cox and Tom Lantos and other Members introduced The Global Internet Freedom Act H R 48 a bill to establish an Office of Global Internet Freedom and to develop and implement strategies to combat state-sponsored Internet jamming and persecution of those who use the Internet In the 109th Congress Representative Amnesty International “State Control of the Internet in China ” November 26 2002 Amnesty International “Controls Tighten as Internet Activism Grows ” January 28 2004 “Secure Computing Extends Strong Authentication Leadership in China Telecommunications Market with China Telecom Win” http www securecomputing com news February 10 2004 “Fortinet Adds to Growing Customer Base in China ” Market Wire News http www marketwire com March 25 2003 “Companies Defend Against Chinese Censorship ” Network World http www networkworld com December 2 2002 Statement from Websense representative February 10 2006 49 Peter S Goodman “Yahoo Says it gave China Internet Data ” Washington Post September 11 2005 50 Randolph Kluver “US and China Policy Expectations of the Internet” China Information vol 29 no 2 2005 51 Thom Shanker “Rumsfeld Urges Openness in China ” Houston Chronicle October 19 2005 52 Department of State Bureau of Democracy Human Rights and Labor Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2004 China February 28 2005 48 Congressional Research Service 8 Internet Development and Information Control in the People’s Republic of China Cox reintroduced the Global Internet Freedom Act as H R 2216 The bill was referred to the House Committee on International Relations On February 1 2006 the Congressional Human Rights Caucus held a hearing entitled “Human Rights and the Internet — The People’s Republic of China ” On February 15 2006 the Subcommittee on Africa Global Human Rights and International Operations of the House International Relations Committee will hold a joint hearing with the Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific regarding the Internet and censorship in China International Broadcasting Bureau The U S Broadcasting Board of Governors BBG which oversees the International Broadcasting Bureau IBB has promoted Internet freedom in China by focusing on its Voice of America VOA and Radio Free Asia RFA websites which are regularly blocked by Chinese authorities In 2001 the BBG provided $100 000 to Safeweb Inc a government contracted company that also had been briefly funded by the CIA to set up proxy servers to help Chinese Internet users access prohibited information 53 However within a year Safeweb’s technology was reportedly unsuccessful in protecting user identities 54 Since 2003 the BBG has funded Dynamic Internet Technology DynaWeb and UltraReach which have each developed software to enable Chinese Internet users to access VOA and RFA websites see Table 1 Funding for these Chinese programs constitutes about three-fourths of the BBG’s global anti-jamming expenditures which are expected to grow by about 28% in 2006 from the previous year DynaWeb’s website is difficult to block because of “anonymizing” technology that regularly changes its numerical Internet Protocol IP address Dynaweb president Bill Xia disclosed that earlier efforts to provide Chinese Internet users with unblocked IP addresses through an e-mail subscription service had failed because censors had also subscribed to the service and quickly blocked those sites as well 55 According to Xia DynaWeb must evolve according to how China censors the Internet and that “both parties can always implement new technologies to stay ahead and sustain the advantage ” However in testimony before the Congressional-Executive Commission on China Xia stated that censors have a “brighter future ” because China purchases the most advanced censorship technology from Western companies and has more resources than counter-censorship efforts in the United States 56 Table 1 Table 1 Broadcasting Board of Governors Funding for Counter-Censorship Technology in China FY2003 FY2004 FY2005 Dynaweb $497 700 $806 326 $685 000 UltraReach $3 000 $21 000 $42 003 Total $500 700 $827 326 $727 003 Source Broadcasting Board of Governors As of April 2005 Dynamic’s homepage was viewed about 90 000 times per day while UltraReach allows approximately 4 000 visits and 30 000 page views for VOA and 2 600 visits Murray Hiebert “Counters to Chinese Checkers ” Far Eastern Economic Review November 7 2002 Oxblood Ruffin “Great Firewall of China ” New Scientist London November 9 2002 55 Bill Xia president of DynaWeb “China’s Cyber-Wall Can technology Break Through ” Testimony before the Congressional-Executive Commission on China November 4 2002 56 Ibid 53 54 Congressional Research Service 9 Internet Development and Information Control in the People’s Republic of China and 28 000 page views for RFA daily 57 Visits to these sites reportedly rise when PRC censorship tightens such as during the SARS outbreak of 2003 The BBG disseminates Chinese-language news summaries some of which contain critical opinions or stories about China to recipients in China via e-mail These e-mails employ techniques that circumvent censorship and include IP addresses of proxy servers through which users may view VOA and RFA reports 58 Some U S companies are developing software for Chinese Internet users to circumvent the PRC government censorship firewall entirely In February 2006 Anonymizer Inc a company that specializes in identity protection technology announced that it was developing anti-censorship software for Internet users in the PRC Anonymizer’s China program would provide a regularly changing URL which Chinese Internet users could access for unfettered links to the World Wide Web According to the company users’ identities would also be protected from online tracking and monitoring by the PRC government Peacefire a free speech advocacy organization and website has developed protocols for circumventing Internet blocking programs that can be used by Chinese Web users 59 Issues for U S Policy Human rights organizations U S government officials U S Internet companies and experts on the development of the Internet and censorship in China have made wide-ranging recommendations for expanding Internet freedom in China These policy suggestions include enacting legal prohibitions on U S companies that would aid PRC government censorship efforts creating U S governmental institutions for promoting global Internet freedom funding the development of counter-censorship technologies applying greater pressure at the government-togovernment level and establishing codes of conduct for U S Internet companies in China that promote free expression within the confines of PRC political and business realities Some analysts recommend making laws that would prohibit U S companies from locating their servers offering e-mail services or selling surveillance and filtering technology in countries with repressive regimes such as China The U S -China Economic and Security Review Commission advocates the creation of an executive branch office that would monitor global Internet censorship and promote the development of anti-censorship technology 60 In its annual report for 2005 the Congressional-Executive Commission on China recommended that Congress should appropriate funds to support technologies that would help Chinese citizens access Internet-based information that is officially censored Some U S Internet companies in China argue that their own efforts to resist PRC government demands to comply with censorship norms would be enhanced by higher profile U S government pressure on the Chinese government U S Internet companies in China reportedly are also considering how to develop common responses that would attempt to strike a balance between promoting free expression or protesting censorship and James C Mulvenon DGI Center for Intelligence Research and Analysis “Breaching the Great Firewall ” Testimony before the U S -China Economic and Security Review Commission April 14 2005 58 Kenneth Berman Director of Information Technology International Broadcasting Bureau “China’s State Control Mechanisms and Methods ” Testimony before the U S -China Economic and Security Review Commission April 14 2005 59 “Anonymizer to Provide Censor-Free Internet to China” http www anonymizer com consumer media press_releases 02012006 February 1 2006 Anonymizer receives funding from the BBG $72 000 in 2005 primarily for VOA anti-blocking efforts in Iran Peacefire received $24 600 in 2005 from the BBG for counter-censorship objectives globally including China 60 See Statement of Carolyn Bartholomew before the Congressional Human Rights Caucus Hearing on Human Rights and the Internet — the People’s Republic of China February 1 2006 57 Congressional Research Service 10 Internet Development and Information Control in the People’s Republic of China operating within an authoritarian political system For example some U S Internet companies have announced policies of informing users when content is unavailable due to government censorship restrictions and demanding that PRC authorities provide clear legal bases for complying with Chinese government demands regarding censorship and the investigation of Internet users 61 Some observers hold that there needs to be more demand from Chinese people themselves to obtain uncensored information They posit that if demand for free information is great enough from within China the government will be more inclined to loosen its grip on Internet information controls 62 When the popular search engine Google was blocked in 2002 some observers believe that the Chinese government gave into pressure and lifted the block after only 10 days because of the flood of complaints received from Chinese researchers and Internet users 63 Author Information Thomas Lum Specialist in Asian Affairs Disclaimer This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service CRS CRS serves as nonpartisan shared staff to congressional committees and Members of Congress It operates solely at the behest of and under the direction of Congress Information in a CRS Report should not be relied upon for purposes other than public understanding of information that has been provided by CRS to Members of Congress in connection with CRS’s institutional role CRS Reports as a work of the United States Government are not subject to copyright protection in the United States Any CRS Report may be reproduced and distributed in its entirety without permission from CRS However as a CRS Report may include copyrighted images or material from a third party you may need to obtain the permission of the copyright holder if you wish to copy or otherwise use copyrighted material David Barboza “Version of Google Won’t Offer E-Mail or Blogs ” New York Times January 25 2006 “Microsoft Amends Policies Regarding Blog Shutdowns ” op cit 62 Xia op cit 63 November 2005 Interview by author with prominent Chinese researcher who prefers to be unidentified 61 Congressional Research Service RL33167 · VERSION 5 · UPDATED 11