MCLC: clamp down over online rumors

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: kirk (denton.2 at osu.edu)
Subject: clamp down over online rumors
***********************************************************

Source: NYT (3/31/12):
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/01/world/asia/china-shuts-down-web-sites-aft
er-coup-rumors.html

China Clamps Down on Social Networking Over Online Rumors
By IAN JOHNSON

BEIJING ‹ China 
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/c
hina/index.html?inline=nyt-geo> started a sweeping crackdown of its
vibrant social-networking scene over the weekend, detaining six people,
closing 16 sites and shutting off the comment function for two gigantic
microblogs.

The campaign, which was announced late Friday and put in place in stages
through Saturday, was directly linked to the political instability that
has gripped China 
<http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/30/world/asia/chinas-leaders-seek-unity-aft
er-ouster-of-bo-xilai.html> since one of its most charismatic politicians,
Bo Xilai, lost his post in mid-March. That spurred rumors of a coup, which
the government-run Xinhua news agency cited
<http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2012-03/31/c_122911627.htm> as
the reason for the measures.
Xinhua quoted an official with the State Internet Information Office as
saying that the sites had spread reports of ³military vehicles entering
Beijing and something wrong going on in Beijing.²

The reports, which Xinhua said were carried on the sites meizhou.net
<http://meizhou.net/>, xn528.com <http://xn528.com/> andcndy.com.cn
<http://cndy.com.cn/>, stemmed from disagreement among senior leaders over
whether to remove Mr. Bo, who is being investigated over accusations of
corruption and abuse of power. One of his backers, the senior leader Zhou
Yongkang, was said to be behind the planned coup, although most Chinese
analysts have discounted this as a fabrication.

In addition to the six detainees ‹ whose names were not released ‹ Xinhua
said others were ³admonished and educated² and had promised to ³repent.²

The sites that were closed were relatively minor players in China.

More noticeable for most Chinese was the decision to shut off the
commenting services for microblogs run by Sina Corporation and Tencent
Holding Ltd., which each have 300 million registered accounts.

On Sina¹s Weibo service, users who tried to comment on posts after 8 a.m.
Saturday were greeted with a message <http://weibo.com/z/notice20120331/>
saying that microblogs contained ³many rumors and illegal, destructive
information.² The shutdown was ³in order to carry out a concentrated
cleanup.² The notice said comments would be allowed starting Tuesday
morning.
The measures allowed users to post, but not comment on others¹ posts.

Even though the actions are linked to the Bo Xilai affair, analysts say
the government began to take steps last July, when a high-speed rail crash
<http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/24/world/asia/24train.html> led to an
outpouring ofreports and criticism
<http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/29/world/asia/29china.html> that cast
doubt on the government¹s version of events. Within a week, most critical
posts were deleted.

Later last year, the government announced that all microbloggers would
have to register under their real name
<http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/17/world/asia/beijing-imposes-new-rules-on-
social-networking-sites.html>, a measure that was supposed to be enforced
by the middle of March. Currently, users with pseudonyms can still post,
but analysts say they expect the rule to be slowly enforced over the
coming months.

The measures come during a sensitive time for China. Besides the scandal
swirling around Mr. Bo, the party is preparing for a once-in-a-decade
leadership transition later this year that has given a boost to rumors and
allegations <http://cmp.hku.hk/2012/03/22/20772/>.

Despite the official rationale that the measures are justified to promote
accuracy, analysts note that China¹s official media itself often is
inaccurate and only gives the government¹s position.

³The whole idea of rumors and interest in accuracy is a ruse,² said David
Bandurski with the China Media Project at Hong Kong University.
³It¹s a moniker for control.²