China warns users about micro-blogging

THE GLORIOUS PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC of China is complaining about internet freedoms and calling for a crackdown on online communications again.

According to Bloomberg the government warned internet users to stop spreading "malignant tumours" - which is a really horrible image - via the official Xinhua News Agency. Chinese internet users should "Abide by the law, show self- discipline and refrain from spreading rumors," said an unnamed spokesman for the State Council's State Internet Information Office.

One blog that has annoyed Chinese officials is a fictional prostitute's diary that is written by a 31-year old man. This has apparently attracted a quarter of a million readers - and, it seems, one critical bureaucrat in the State Council's State Internet Information Office.

Last week the Chinese government announced that it had 500 million internet users, or rather 500 million users of the Chinese version of the internet. This amounts to around 40 per cent of the population, but the remaining 60 per cent do not have much to incentivise them to sign up.

An article at the Xinhua News Agency tells us that when citizens have used "micro-blogging services" they have come in for a tide of abuse, and it seemed to suggest that they are better off staying out of it.

In one chilling tale it warns about what happened when someone criticised a television show on Twitter. "She was soon confronted with a wave of criticism, some of it vulgar, saying she had no appreciation for the arts," says the report, while the victim added, "I was very depressed by the comments. It's like you get kidnapped by mainstream opinion. I lost the desire to share my views with others."

In another shocking warning we learn that one user "spent the whole night arguing with one netizen who assailed him with insults. He was left feeling tired and puzzled... He said he would have given up micro-blogging altogether as 'purely useless', but he uses it to stay in touch with his girlfriend." Sad indeed.

Last week Chinese ministers were enjoying some face time with UK representatives at the fourth UK-China Internet Roundtable meeting, where Wang Chen, chief of the Information Office of China's State Council, must have had some agreeable ears for his anti-free speech agenda.

"Facts prove that while developing countries have the new problems arising from social networks, developed countries also face similar challenges," he said. "This is a common problem that confronts many countries in the world."

Separately, and again according to the official news agency, he added that anyone that uses the internet should do so for the glory of China.

"It is imperative to emphasize relevant social responsibilities so as to maintain the normal order of Internet information transmission," he said. "All stakeholders should consciously safeguard the solemnity of laws and the norms of social morality." µ