Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'China – Internet Censorship'

This Master thesis deals with the subject of state censorship of the Internet. The objective of the thesis is to map the techniques of state censorship of the Internet and the methods of circumvention. In the first part, the author introduces organisations and projects that investigate state Internet censorship in the world. Subsequently, the author depicts inspection methods of communication and the Internet filtering techniques. The following part focuses on the principles of circumventing Internet censorship. It also describes various techniques of the circumvention of the censorship. Another objective of the thesis is to test the practical methods of circumventing Internet censorship. As a destination for the measurement the author has chosen PRC where he scrutinised the state of Internet censorship and tested the success rate of circumvention methods. The presented outputs serve as an overview of the techniques of the state censorship of the Internet and the methods of its circumvention, and can be used as a foundation for further work.

This master thesis discusses the sensitive topic of internet censorship in People's Republic of China (PRC). The first part provides a detailed overview on current situation of internet censorship in PRC. Some of the important terms related to censorship are also explained here. The theoretical part acquaints reader with technical aspects of censorship, as well as with the legal policies of Chinese government. Furthermore, this part also presents an analysis of keywords blocked by the search engines in China. Next part of this thesis offers a discussion on future development of censorship in both China and the rest of the world. The author proposes two potential scenarios and argues whether present state of censorship is feasible for upcoming years or not.

Citizens around the world are using the Internet to connect with an international community, speak out against governmental injustices, and dissolve informational barriers. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), a regime known for its strict control and harsh repression, is faced with the challenge of balancing an appropriate amount of civilian freedom on the Internet while still maintaining its monopolistic power. How does a one-party system successfully maintain control over the flow of information and sustain its unchallenged control of citizens in an increasingly-liberalized world? The Party’s answer to this question is a finely-tuned Internet censorship strategy, which this paper seeks to investigate.

This master's thesis deals with the issue of censorship in the internet. Specifically, it describes technical means for censorship and methods of checking on existing projects. There are also presented various alternatives of circumvention censorship, which allow to access blocked information via the internet. Finally, it describes a system that allows practical verification of censorship in the People's republic of China. The results obtained with this system are thoroughly described and discussed.

The Great Firewall of China (GFC) represents one of the most sophisticated censoring infrastructures in the world. While several aspects of the GFC including HTTP keyword filtering and DNS tampering have been studied thoroughly in the past, recent work has shown that the GFC goes to great lengths to prevent its citizens from using the Tor anonymity network. By employing the so-called follow-up scanning technique, Tor bridge relays are blocked dynamically. In this thesis, we survey previous work in the area of the GFC ranging from HTTP keyword filtering and DNS tampering, to the Tor follow-up scanning. Furthermore, additional experiments are carried out to gain a better understanding of how the follow-up scanning is implemented as well as where the filtering occurs for different protocols.

{This Diploma thesis deals with Internet censorship. Various technical solutions for Internet censorship are presented together with censorship analysis options. Several possibilities for blocked content access and censorship circumvention in general are discussed. The topic is analyzed from the global point of view and is related to the People's Republic of China.

Falun Gong protesters, the bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, the spy plane incident and a series of mine accidents are just some of the events over the past decade that involved the Internet. In each incident the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was caught off guard by the circumvention of informational flows as a consequence of the Internet. This is in some ways indicative of the impact the medium is having on the ability of the CCP to manage political discourse within the confines of the country. This thesis examines the way that political discourse in contemporary China is managed in response to the development of the Internet, using the concepts of time and space as conceived by Harold A. Innis. This historical study considers the strategies used in the management of time and space in the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) across a broad range of ways in which the medium is used by particular groups, such as online gamers, bloggers, hackers, and activists. I have also looked at the way information flows are managed during a crisis or disaster using critical textual analysis of Internet sources, and specific examples. These sources are both official and unofficial including Chinese government sites, journalistic sources both Chinese and Western and Chinese legal databases that appear on the World Wide Web (WWW). The study finds that there is an emerging shift from propaganda based media manipulation and suppression to a style of stage managed spin. The CCP have used three strategies to contain and maintain their hold over central power, including the rule of law, investment in the development of content and technological means. The development of the Internet in China is marked by a dialect of desire for the technology for economic purposes and the perceived need to control the technology for political purposes. The Internet has also enabled the central government in Beijing to reassert its position as a central authority over local and provincial governments. This study contributes to the existing knowledge about Chinese media policy and the Internet, and will shed light on the ways in which the tehcnology influences the production and consumption of media and the impact that the development of this medium has upon media policy in China. Furthermore, this study will contribute to a greater understanding of CCP's ability to manage information and the impact that this medium will have on the operations of Chinese politics within the space of the Internet, as well as the impact of the technology on politics, and China's interaction with the international community.

Many scholars have speculated that censorship efforts will be ineffective in the information age, where the possibility of accessing incriminating information about almost any political entity will benefit the masses at the expense of the powerful. Others have speculated that while information can now move instantly across borders, autocrats can still use fear and intimidation to encourage citizens to keep quiet. This manuscript demonstrates that the deluge of information in fact still benefits those in power by observing that the degree of accessibility of information is still determined by organized groups and governments. Even though most information is possible to access, as normal citizens get lost in the cacophony of information available to them, their consumption of information is highly influenced by the costs of obtaining it. Much information is either disaggregated online or somewhat inaccessible, and organized groups, with resources and incentives to control this information, use information flooding and information friction as methods of controlling the cost of information for consumers. I demonstrate in China that fear is not the primary deterrent for the spread of information; instead, there are massively different political implications of having certain information completely free and easy to obtain as compared to being available, but slightly more difficult to access.
Government

Dans un pays comme la Chine, où fonctionne un régime politique de front unique du Parti communiste, le système médiatique est caractérisé par la propagande, la concordance des points de vue et le secret. Au fur et à mesure du développement d’Internet et des réseaux sociaux, les citoyens chinois, en particulier les jeunes, se sont saisis de cet espace public numérique pour échanger des opinions en tâchant de contourner les médias de masse dominants officiels. La mobilisation en ligne des citoyens suscite un nouveau phénomène socio-politique en Chine. Notre recherche porte sur les usages du Web par la génération post-80 et les représentations qui sous-tendent ses expressions et actions en ligne. En analysant soixante-neuf entretiens semi-directifs réalisés avec des internautes répartis en quatre catégories, nous avons observé leurs réactions vis-à-vis d’affaires publiques controversées. Nous avons particulièrement interrogé ces jeunes cyber-citoyens sur les quatre réactions possibles à la censure d’Internet : l’indifférence, le silence, l’autocensure, et surtout la résistance. Aujourd’hui, le cyberespace n’est pas seulement une plate-forme de propagande pour restaurer et maintenir l’autorité du Parti communiste, mais aussi un espace où les citoyens s’accordent ou s’opposent dans des conversations interminables en ligne et hors ligne. Cela peut pousser certaines organisations officielles ou non-gouvernementales à résoudre des problèmes sociaux et/ou politiques. Dans ce contexte, nous cherchons à analyser le rôle socio-politique de l’espace public numérique et à vérifier s’il pourrait être une variante de la sphère publique habermassienne et exercer une influence sur la démocratie électronique dans la Chine contemporaine
In China, the political regime is the united front, which supports, reinforces the leadership of the Communist Party and makes a media system characterised by secret, propaganda and unanimity of viewpoints. With the development of the Internet, Chinese citizens, especially the younger demographic, take advantage of the online public escape to express themselves and exchange ideas, by bypassing dominant mass media. The online mobilisation of Chinese citizens raises a new and interesting socio-political phenomenon. Therefore, our research will examine the web habits of the post-80's generation and to explore the representations that underly their online behaviour. From the analysis of semi-structured interviews carried out with 69 cyber citizens, which are classified by four categories, we observed their reactions to controversial public affairs. The analysis aims to identify four possible reactions to online censorship: indifferent attitudes, silence, self-censorship, and the resistance. It is noticeable that today cyberspace is not just a propaganda platform aimed at restoring and maintaining the Communist party’s authority, but also a wide-open space where citizens agree or disagree in endless controversies online and below the line. This may push some official or non-governmental organisations to solve social and/or political problems. In this context, we seek to analyse the socio-political role of the digital public space and to verify if it could be a variant of the Habermasian public sphere and influence e-democracy in contemporary China

This thesis deals with the problem of internet censorship in China. It describes forms and methods of internet censorship in China. It also presents means to detect, verify and bypass censorship using various tools, applications and internet services. The thesis contains results of performed tests designed to check and verify censored web pages and keywords from various locations in China. Conclusions about censorship in China are drawn based on these tests.

二零一零年一月，全球最大的互联网搜索引擎谷歌在其官网上宣布了他们由于不满中国政府长期以来的网络审查制度而有意退出中国市场的决定。西方主流媒体及评论家对于中国的网络审查制度惯常以负面评价为主。中国民众对此又持怎样的态度呢？这个研究将焦点放在了中国的海归派身上。由于长年游走在中国大陆及海外之间，他们常常可以体验及比较不同地区的网络世界，故此对网络审查比一般的中国大陆民众有更深的体会及更详尽的洞悉。本研究旨在探索这群曾在或仍在中国境外居住的中国人是如何理解中国的互联网审查制度的。
在此研究的受访对象中，有些人将网络审查视为一个来自政府的负面干涉，并认为它代表了一个不诚实的政府。而另一些人则认为由于中国社会及中国文化的特殊性，网络审查制度有其存在的道理。虽然受访对象的看法多样，但他们在谈论这个话题的时候都表现出了一种充满矛盾感的民族主义情节 ---他们会竭力为一个另自己蒙羞的政府辩护。通过深入分析了这种充满矛盾感的民族主义情节：它是如何产生的，又意味着什么，它与网络审查制度又有何相关，笔者力图强调，本研究受访对象的国家认同感在这个辩护过程中得到了加强。此分析有助于更好的了解中国的网络审查制度，以及它的合理性是如何被塑造出来的。
In January, 2010, the biggest internet search engine, Google, announced its potential exodus from the Chinese market due to China’s practice of censorship. Many foreign commentators have criticized China’s practice of censorship. But what are the views of Chinese citizens? This research focuses on a special group of Chinese netizens called “returnees“ [overseas Chinese who are living in between China and elsewhere], who have experienced both the domestic and overseas cyber-worlds. Through studying their perspectives on censorship, this research seeks to understand how those who have lived outside China understand internet censorship within China.
Some informants view internet censorship as a negative intrusion and a representation of an untruthful government while others consider it as a necessity in managing China’s cyberspace due to the special cultural context of Chinese society. Though their perceptions vary, my informants expressed a paradoxical nationalism, defending a government they felt ashamed of; this was expressed repeatedly during interviews. In this thesis, by bringing censorship and nationalism together, I analyze in depth my informants’ paradoxical and conflicting attitude toward these two concepts, in order to better understand Chinese censorship and how it may be justified. I argue that by defending censorship, my informants’ Chinese identities have been reinforced.
Detailed summary in vernacular field only.
Detailed summary in vernacular field only.
Chang, Xinyue.
Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2012.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 156-165).
Abstracts also in Chinese.
Abstract --- p.i
Chapter Chapter 1. --- Introduction --- p.1
Introduction: “The Google-China Affair“ --- p.2
Chinese Returnees --- p.4
TheNascent Public Sphere, Censorship, and the Google-China Affair --- p.5
AnHistorical Perspective --- p.13
Methodology --- p.21
Chapter Breakdown --- p.24
Chapter Chapter2. --- Literature Review --- p.26
The Anthropology of Cyberspace --- p.26
China’s Cyberspace --- p.36
Nationalismand Chinese Nationalism --- p.39
Chapter Chapter3. --- The Google-China Affair --- p.53
TheSage of Google and China --- p.58
Reviewing the Saga through the Eyes of Chinese Returnees --- p.63
Follow-Up --- p.77
Conclusion --- p.77
Chapter Chapter4. --- Freedom of Information --- p.79
Universal Human Rights vs. Cultural Relativism --- p.79
Individual Agency vs. State Control --- p.85
Market Domination vs. State Control --- p.90
The Concept of Rationality --- p.92
Responses to Moral Discipline --- p.97
Conclusion --- p.101
Chapter Chapter5. --- Freedom of Speech --- p.103
Freedom in Relation to Speech --- p.105
Twitter and Sina Weibo --- p.109
Liu Xiaobo --- p.116
Ai Weiwei --- p.119
The Chinese Jasmine Movement --- p.122
Conclusion --- p.124
Chapter Chapter6. --- Conclusion: Censorship and Chinese Nationalism --- p.129
The Conundrum of Self-Flagellating National Pride --- p.130
Repressive Hypothesis --- p.136
Presentation of Self and Rituals of Rebellion --- p.141
Collective Memory Construction --- p.149
Conclusion: Censorship and Nationalism --- p.151
Bibliography --- p.156

This thesis traces the development of the Chinese government’s attempts to solicit corruption reports from citizens via online platforms such as websites and smartphone applications. It argues that this endeavour has proven largely unsuccessful, and what success it has enjoyed is not sustainable. The reason for this failure is that prospective complainants are offered little incentive to report corruption via official channels. Complaints on social media require less effort and are more likely to lead to investigations than complaints delivered straight to the government, though neither channel is particularly effective. The regime’s concern for social stability has led to widespread censorship of corruption discussion on social media, as well as a slew of laws and regulations banning the behaviour. Though it is difficult to predict what the long-term results of these policies will be, it seems likely that the regime’s ability to collect corruption data will remain limited.
Graduate
2018-07-14

The concept of deliberation, both theoretically and empirically, was examined in the Chinese blogosphere by content analyzing Internet blog posts and comments, associated with sixty hotspot incidents in China from 2007 through 2009. Measurements of analytic and social processes were made and the factors that affect these processes were examined to identify deliberative patterns in the blog posts and comments. The findings suggest relatively substantial deliberative outcomes in the blog posts about the incidents, especially relating to the analytic process. Two variables were examined with respect to the factors that determine deliberation: an incident’s category (non-threatening, threat to performance, and threat to legitimacy) as classified under the command and control system, and information availability (news availability and total information availability) about the incident. Findings support the theoretical framework proposed in the study and suggest the following logical sequences: Firstly, the Chinese command and control system is a significant factor in explaining deliberative outcomes about incidents that can be categorized according to their level of considered threat to the system. An incident that was considered to be at a higher level of threat linked to a higher level of deliberation. Secondly, the command and control system also determines the information availability of an incident but in a negative way— incidents with higher threat levels have lower levels of information availability. Thirdly, information availability, in turn, predicted deliberation on its own—higher levels of information availability link to lower levels of deliberation. Moreover, information availability functioned as a moderating variable between the command and control system and the deliberative outcomes. Posts that were associated with non-threatening and threat to performance incidents, with higher levels of information availability, tended to have a lower quality of deliberation. Posts associated with incidents that were a threat to legitimacy, with lower level of information availability, yielded similar deliberative patterns that were of relatively high quality.
text

abstract: The China smog is a severe air pollution issue that has damaging effects on the health of millions of Chinese nationals and contributes to global warming. In the context of the China smog, this study examined civic engagement on social network sites (SNS) and in real life among Chinese nationals utilizing theories of uses and gratification, the effects of Internet use, media exposure, Internet censorship, political efficacy, trust and social capital. Six hundred and eighty eight Chinese nationals who are currently studying, working or residing in China completed online questionnaires. In general, the results of this study showed that a combination of high needs for recognition of SNS use and low needs for entertainment of SNS use is related with increased civic engagement. The results of this study also revealed that civic engagement is positively related with attention to content about the China smog on mobile Internet, external political efficacy and social capital.
Dissertation/Thesis
Doctoral Dissertation Communication 2017

In the twenty-first century, access to a fragmented global culture through online portals has created what Bauman (2011) calls a ‘liquid culture’. As screen-mediated ways of being grow and propagate through our art galleries, museums and online social media feeds, how are we to read this emergent visual grammar so that we can motivate, move or elevate our ways of knowing? This thesis explores the symbolism created in mainland China in 2009 through an emergent and retained set of subversive symbols: the Grass Mud Horse lexicon in Chinese visual culture and beyond. To date, theorists have focused predominantly on internet memes, independent of other multimodal forms generated and transitioned from symbolic online internet memes to offline symbolic use in art and design. I investigate ways of deciphering and articulating these visual gestures through accessing cultural keys. I claim that the new symbolism generated as a result of internet censorship in mainland China demonstrates a generational and ideological shift; it does so through the creation and propagation of new visual grammar in twenty-first century China. To scaffold my claims, I explore an overview of historical changes in the visual articulation of Chinese culture. The use of Mao Zedong as a symbol in art and design clearly illustrates a shift from veneration to subversion. By exploring the symbolism in visual culture dating from 1912 to China’s digital age, this study reveals a transition that proposes a new heroic icon, the Grass Mud Horse. The creation of this new symbolism has political relevance; it deploys practices and art forms to signal, dissolve and raise awareness of social and ideological change. This study maps the new symbolism to test the claim that over time, some symbols may lose potency, while others remain and reflect ideological shifts. The findings will be demonstrated through a synthesis of online digital ethnography, including semiotic and compositional interpretation, and incorporating multimodal discourse analysis. This study will challenge the Western perspective of Chinese stereotypes in visual culture by working with and interpreting visual cultural flows in the digital age.