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<h3 style="margin-top:0;"><a style="font-weight: 500; font-size: 21px;line-height: 30px; margin-top:25px; margin-bottom: 10px;" href="http://u.osu.edu/mclc/2017/09/26/another-round-of-internet-censorship/" target="_blank">Another round of internet censorship</a></h3>
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<p>Source: <a href="http://supchina.com">Sup China</a> (9/25/17)<br />
Yet another round of internet censorship</p>
<p><em>Reuters</em> <a href="http://supchina.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=05fc7fc9529b01bb9bd1abfa7&id=541f03cbfb&e=b3d625469d" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reports</a> that <strong>three of China’s largest tech firms have been fined for not censoring enough</strong> sensitive content. The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) did not disclose the amount of the fines given to <strong>Tencent, Baidu, and Weibo</strong> except that they would receive the “maximum penalty” for hosting banned content, including fake news and pornography, as well as content that “incites ethnic tension” and “threatens social order.”<em>Reuters </em>notes that the maximum penalty for <strong>any individual in charge</strong> of a platform in violation of the rules cited by CAC is <strong>100,000 yuan ($15,110) each</strong>.</p>
<p>The fines — largely symbolic, as such sums of money are pocket change for these large corporations — are one result of new cybersecurity regulations that went into effect in May this year. Listen to a <em>Sinica Podcast </em>with Adam Segal for more on <a href="http://supchina.us11.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=05fc7fc9529b01bb9bd1abfa7&id=7539834b26&e=b3d625469d" target="_blank" rel="noopener">China’s tightening grip on cyberspace</a>.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, in other corners of the Chinese internet:</p>
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<li>The <em>New York Times </em><a href="http://supchina.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=05fc7fc9529b01bb9bd1abfa7&id=bd70c64530&e=b3d625469d" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reports</a> (paywall) that <strong>WhatsApp has finally been completely blocked in China</strong>, after years of intermittent access. It was the “last of Facebook products to still be available in mainland China,” and its demise is a setback for Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who has <a href="http://supchina.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=05fc7fc9529b01bb9bd1abfa7&id=08edb30c67&e=b3d625469d" target="_blank" rel="noopener">gone to great lengths</a> to try to crack the Chinese market. Technical specialists told the <em>Times </em>that because of WhatsApp’s encryption methods, the censorship may indicate that China’s <strong>cyberspace authorities “may have developed specialized software</strong> to interfere with such messages.”</li>
<li>The <em>Times </em>also <a href="http://supchina.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=05fc7fc9529b01bb9bd1abfa7&id=ba4c63c437&e=b3d625469d" target="_blank" rel="noopener">describes</a> (paywall) a series of crackdowns on the freedom of speech online in China, including a <a href="http://supchina.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=05fc7fc9529b01bb9bd1abfa7&id=ee502c7d9b&e=b3d625469d" target="_blank" rel="noopener">directive</a> earlier this summer issued by the China Netcasting Services Association <strong>banning 68 categories of content</strong>.</li>
<li>Last week, the <em>People’s Daily </em><a href="http://supchina.us11.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=05fc7fc9529b01bb9bd1abfa7&id=120711dd7b&e=b3d625469d" target="_blank" rel="noopener">criticized</a> (in Chinese) AI-driven news aggregator Toutiao by name, specifically warning of the danger of “information cocoons” (信息茧房 xìnxī jiǎn fáng) — echo chambers — that consumers of overly personalized newsfeeds might get trapped in.</li>
<li><em>Lawfare</em> summarizes and analyzes recent Chinese government moves intended to end anonymity online in an <a href="http://supchina.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?u=05fc7fc9529b01bb9bd1abfa7&id=ceac960725&e=b3d625469d" target="_blank" rel="noopener">article</a> titled “Shrinking anonymity in Chinese cyberspace.”</li>
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by <a href="mailto:denton.2@osu.edu">denton.2@osu.edu</a> on September 26, 2017 </div>
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